Azerbaijan president says plane was shot down by Russia, makes three demands to Moscow

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday criticised Moscow and said that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia 'unintentionally'. 

"We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia...We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done," he told Azerbaijani state television.

Aliyev further accused Russia for trying to hush up the issue for several days. 

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We heard nothing from Russia except delirious versions for the first three days, he said. 

The Azerbaijani airliner crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people onboard, while it was trying to land near Grozny. 

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to the Azerbaijan president and the Kremlin in a statement said that its air defence systems were firing near Grozny against a Ukrainian drone strike. 

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In connection with the crash, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan made three demands to Russia. 

First, the Russian side must apologise to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit its guilt and third, punish the guilty and pay compensation to the Azerbaijan state, the injured passengers and crew members. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Sunday that Putin had spoken to Aliyev over the phone again without providing further details. 

Meanwhile, a joint investigation by Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan has begun at the crash site near the city of Aktau.