AZAL plane crash. Russia did not admit guilt, Azerbaijan will appeal to the international court

Azerbaijan is preparing a dossier for submission to international courts regarding the crash of the AZAL plane in Aktau on December 25, 2024. This was stated by President of the country Ilham Aliyev, reports Report.

"We are currently preparing, and we have already informed the Russian side that we are preparing a dossier to be submitted to international courts in this regard. We realize that this may take time. In the Malaysian Airlines Boeing case, it took more than a decade," he said .

Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan has not received any response from Russian officials regarding Russia's involvement in the attack on the plane, which led to its damage. Aliyev emphasized that both Russia and Azerbaijan know what really happened and Baku can prove it .

"The question arises as to why they don't just do what any neighbor would do. Our requests and demands are absolutely natural: to recognize this catastrophe as a fault, to punish those who shot down our plane, to pay compensation to the families of the victims, the injured and AZAL for the loss of the plane," Ilham Aliyev said .

He noted that the pilots showed courage and managed to land the plane. As soon as the team arrived, they reported that the fuselage of the plane was full of holes and there were two wounded inside.

Aliyev called the Russian side's claims that it was an alleged "Ukrainian drone" that attacked the plane ridiculous. Moreover, Russian airspace was not closed, it happened a few minutes after the attack on the plane.

"There were two attacks on the plane. So just imagine: a Ukrainian drone arrives, points at an Azerbaijani plane, hits it, crashes, and then attacks again. This is a story for kindergarten. We know what happened," he emphasized .

The Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan has been sending letters to the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia for seven months, but has received only one response: "the investigation is ongoing". Aliyev considers this behavior counterproductive.

"This will not lead to us forgetting – we will not forget. We are ready to wait ten years, but justice must prevail. And, unfortunately, the situation, which is now in limbo, is not conducive to the development of bilateral relations between Russia and Azerbaijan," he emphasized .

• on December 25, 2024, a plane crashed in the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board, including crew members.. It is known, that 38 people died. After the crash, Putin called Aliyev twice and apologized for the "tragic incident" that occurred in Russian airspace.
• On December 27, Biden said that saw signs, that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was shot down by Russian air defense.
• On December 28, President Zelensky expressed condolences to the Azerbaijani president and said that Russia has to explain everything.
• January 6, 2025 Aliyev said that he is convinced that Russia is to blame for the downing of the AZAL plane.
• February 4, Reuters said that Azerbaijan has a fragment of a missile, that proves that the plane was shot down by the Russians.