**Azerbaijan‘s President Accuses Russia of Plane Crash**
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has again accused Russia of causing a plane crash on December 25 that killed 38 people. He criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for not admitting guilt during a meeting with victims’ families and surviving crew members.
The plane, which was flying from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, changed course and crashed in Kazakhstan. Many reports and official Azerbaijani statements say the crash was caused by a missile launched by a Russian air defense system.
Aliyev said that Russia is responsible for the disaster. He criticized Putin’s handling of the incident, saying that Russian agencies are suppressing evidence and giving “absurd versions” of what happened.
The plane carried 67 people, including many Azerbaijani citizens. Official sources have confirmed that the missile came from Russian forces. Aliyev also said that the plane’s black boxes were decoded in Brazil because Azerbaijan did not trust an international aviation committee to do it fairly.
**Background**
This is not the first time Aliyev has accused Russia of causing the crash. He has criticized Putin for not admitting responsibility and for not closing Russian airspace near Grozny, which he says contributed to the tragedy.