Azerbaijan's President Blames Russia for Shooting Down Airline

Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, said the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticised Moscow for trying to "hush up" the issue for days.

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"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 said that the airliner, which crashed on Wednesday in Kazakhstan, had been hit by fire from the ground over Russia and "rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare". Aliyev accused Russia of trying to "hush up" the issue for several days, saying he was "upset and surprised" by versions of events put forward by Russian officials.