The Azerbaijani agency «Azeri-Press» reported that Baku is building an evidence base and collecting evidence in preparation for an appeal to the international court regarding the crash of the «Azerbaijan Airlines» plane in Aktau on December 25.
«Azerbaijan's conditions and what it wants are clear and have been voiced at the highest level. Moscow must openly admit its guilt and take responsibility. Otherwise, Baku is ready for further steps», — writes the agency. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly demanded apologies from Russia and accused the Kremlin of trying to «sweep the issue under the rug». On December 29, Vladimir Putin called Aliyev but only apologized for the «incident» occurring in Russian airspace.
As noted by «Azeri-Press», the fire on the plane was opened from the territory of a military base in the village of Khankala near Grozny. «The Azerbaijani authorities have information about the persons who gave the order and fired the shots, as well as the type of weapon», — the message states.
On Tuesday, the Kazakh Ministry of Transport published a preliminary report on the investigation of the disaster, which indicates that the aircraft was damaged in the air by «external means». A source from Reuters in the Azerbaijani government reported that, according to Baku, the plane was shot down by a Russian «Pantsir-S» air defense system. As the agency's interlocutor clarified, the Azerbaijani side has a fragment of the missile, which was extracted from the wreckage of the liner and identified during an international examination.
38 people died in the plane crash in Kazakh Aktau on December 25.