President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan on Monday excoriated Russia for making an attempt to duck accountability within the downing of an Azerbaijani passenger jet final month, doubling down on a uncommon confrontation with the Kremlin that has highlighted Russia’s lack of affect in a lot of the previous Soviet Union.
Assembly with the 2 surviving flight attendants and with relations of the crew members who died within the crash, Mr. Aliyev mentioned Russian efforts “to hush up this incident” brought about “shock, remorse and rightful indignation” in Azerbaijan.
The preliminary investigation into the Dec. 25 crash that killed 38 individuals made it clear, he mentioned, that had the Russian army and civilian authorities coordinated correctly, “this tragedy might have been prevented.” He reiterated his assertion, which has been backed up by footage from the scene and Western assessments, that the aircraft crashed after being hit by Russian air defenses.
“I can say with confidence that the blame for the truth that Azerbaijani residents died on this catastrophe lies with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Mr. Aliyev mentioned. “We demand justice, we demand the punishment of the responsible, we demand full transparency and respectable habits.”
In a departure from protocol, Mr. Aliyev made these televised feedback in Russian, relatively than in Azerbaijani; analysts described that call as each a nod of respect to the Russian-speaking relations of the deceased pilots, in addition to an indication that Mr. Aliyev needed to be heard in Moscow.
Whereas President Vladimir V. Putin apologized to Mr. Aliyev on Dec. 28 for “the tragic incident” that “befell in Russian airspace,” he stopped in need of accepting Russian accountability for it.
Within the aftermath of the crash, pro-government voices in Azerbaijan unleashed uncommon and withering criticism of Russia, regardless of the shut relationship between Mr. Aliyev and Mr. Putin, two authoritarian leaders who had more and more discovered common ground in confronting the West.
Farid Shafiyev, the chairman of the government-funded Heart for Evaluation of Worldwide Relations in Baku, Azerbaijan, mentioned in a telephone interview that Russia’s “imperial vanity” was on show in its obfuscation of the circumstances of the crash.
Referring to Russia’s failure to acknowledge its culpability, Mr. Shafiyev mentioned: “They nonetheless look down on all these former Soviet nations.”
Russia has been largely silent on the crash in latest days. There was no remark from the Kremlin on Monday, and Russian state media offered solely sparse protection of Mr. Aliyev’s tackle.
Mr. Shafiyev mentioned that Moscow’s muted response might mirror its confidence in its commanding place throughout the post-Soviet world. However he added that this confidence could also be misplaced, pointing to the beautiful collapse of the pro-Russian regime in Syria final month as proof of how shortly its fortunes can change.
“For the second, they’ll really feel very snug that they’re nonetheless a type of huge energy, however over time, which may change,” he mentioned.
Throughout the previous Soviet Union, Russia’s grip retains exhibiting indicators of pressure. Azerbaijan’s archenemy, Armenia, not sees Russia because the guarantor of its safety and is looking to the West and to Iran for support. In Central Asia, China is ascendant, as the previous Soviet republics there view Russia as weakened and distracted by its war in Ukraine.
And simply final week, one other crack emerged in Transnistria, the pro-Russian breakaway area of Moldova. The Jan. 1 halt of fuel to the area from Russia, a consequence of the battle in Ukraine, has raised questions about Russia’s means to keep up a loyal outpost on Europe’s southeastern edge.
By comparability, Azerbaijan had seemed to be a extra constructive story for Moscow. Mr. Putin made a two-day state go to in August, full with footage that confirmed him stress-free in shirtsleeves with Mr. Aliyev. The pinnacle of Russia’s overseas intelligence company visited in September, casting Azerbaijan as an ally in countering Western efforts to undermine “inside political stability in our states.”
However final month’s crash has illuminated the bounds of that partnership — and prompted Mr. Aliyev’s hanging willingness to assail his nation’s much more highly effective neighbor to the north.
Flush with fossil fuel revenues and brimming with confidence after defeating Armenia in a long-running battle in 2023, the autocratic Mr. Aliyev, 63, is seizing on the aftermath of the crash to shed any semblance of being depending on Mr. Putin.
The Azerbaijan Airways Embraer 190 jet with 67 individuals on board crashed in a ball of black smoke and orange flames on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan after failing to land at its vacation spot, the southern Russian metropolis of Grozny. Mr. Putin informed Mr. Aliyev three days later that Russian air defenses have been battling Ukrainian drones within the space because the jet approached, based on a Kremlin assertion.
Mr. Aliyev mentioned on Dec. 29 that this clarification and Mr. Putin’s restricted apology wouldn’t be enough. Russia “should acknowledge its guilt,” he mentioned, and punish these accountable. In Monday’s televised assembly, Mr. Aliyev went additional, declaring that “there are very critical points right here that represent a criminal offense.”
The airspace above Grozny was solely closed after the aircraft was fired upon, Mr. Aliyev mentioned.
“If there was a risk to Russian airspace, the captain of the aircraft ought to have been instantly knowledgeable about it,” Mr. Aliyev mentioned.
Mr. Aliyev repeated his declare {that a} Moscow-based aviation authority that usually investigates aircraft crashes in a lot of the previous Soviet Union, together with Azerbaijan, couldn’t be trusted to hold out a good investigation — one other hanging rebuke to Mr. Putin’s authorities.
Kazakhstan has agreed to ship the aircraft’s black packing containers to Brazil, the nation the place the plane producer Embraer relies.
Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, informed a Kazakh newspaper in an interview revealed Friday that sending the black packing containers to Brazil was the one manner “to make sure a good and unbiased investigation.”
Kazakhstan is one other former Soviet republic that has sought, cautiously, to distance itself from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. The Azerbaijani information media has praised Kazakhstan for displaying “impartiality and objectivity” in investigating the crash relatively than serving to Russia to cowl it up.
Mr. Aliyev mentioned the black packing containers might clarify why the aircraft crossed the Caspian Sea to crash-land in Kazakhstan, relatively than make an emergency touchdown at a better airport in Russia.
Russia’s high aviation official mentioned the aircraft’s pilot selected to land in Kazakhstan. On Dec. 29, Mr. Aliyev posited the idea that Russian air site visitors controllers might have redirected the aircraft with the expectation that it will fall into the Caspian, through which case “makes an attempt to hush up the problem” would have been “profitable.”
Mr. Aliyev additionally mentioned on the time that Azerbaijan would anticipate Russia to pay compensation to the victims. However in a telephone interview on Monday, Joshgun Nesibli, the brother of one of many flight attendants on the aircraft, mentioned he was taken with one thing else.
“Why do I want compensation from Russia? I don’t want it,” mentioned Mr. Nesibli, whose sister, Hokuma Aliyeva, died within the crash. “I want them to apologize to the individuals, though this is not going to deliver again our sister.”
Milana Mazaeva, Oleg Matsnev and Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed reporting.
