Azerbaijani President: We Demand Punishment of the Guilty for Plane Crash

Jerusalem, 6 January, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Baku (AZERTAC) – “I can say with full certainty that the blame for the fact that Azerbaijani citizens died in this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation. And we demand justice, we demand punishment of the guilty, we demand full transparency and human behavior,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during a meeting with family members of the crew who perished in the plane crash and surviving flight attendants.

“The black boxes are being decoded now, and I am sure that we will find out preliminary results in the near future and everything will fall into place. The whole picture of the tragedy will be clear. And this, of course, will be an important part of the full investigation of this tragedy and the punishment of those responsible for it,” Aliyev added.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243 to Grozny crashed on Dec. 25, killing 38 people and injuring 29. The plane was likely hit by a Russian surface-to-air missile.