Azerbaijan and Russia's relations had been moving in a positive direction. The downing of Flight 8243 could jeopardize that. The post The Downing of Flight 8243 Could Jeopardize Russia-Azerbaijan Relations appeared first on World Politics Review.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally shooting down an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev says the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev blasted Russia for putting forward “absurd” theories initially and said Moscow must compensate victims’ families.

The leader of Azerbaijan criticized the Russian response to the crash of a passenger jet that Azerbaijani officials said had most likely been hit by Russian air defenses.

"We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia," President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised statement

Azerbaijani intelligence has blamed Russia for the crash, with Euronews reporting on intelligence from anonymous Azerbaijani government sources that said the plane was not given permission to land in Russia despite requesting an emergency landing.

The crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan has killed 38 of 67 people on board. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that aren’t fully clear yet.

"Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia," President Ilham Aliyev said, citing statements in Russia that attributed the crash to a bird strike or the explosion of some sort of gas cylinder.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev says Russia shot down one of his country's passenger planes "by accident" last week.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev added that it was unintentional but criticised Moscow for trying to “hush up” the shooting for days.View on euronews

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan killing 38 people had been damaged due to shooting from the ground in Russia, Azerbaijan state television reported.