Baku to appeal to international court over Embraer 190 crash
Azerbaijani authorities are collecting evidence to file a lawsuit in an international court over the crash of the AZAL passenger jet. This was reported the day before by the local news agency APA. Earlier, Reuters reported, citing sources in the country's government, that Baku has a fragment of a missile that was found in the hull of the crashed Embraer 190. According to the source, Azerbaijan considers this sample to be evidence that the plane was shot down by the Russian Pantsir air defense system.
At present, APA writes, an evidence base is being formed and additional analysis is being conducted to strengthen the position in court. At the same time, Baku hopes for a peaceful resolution to the situation, leaving the door open for dialogue with the Kremlin.
“Azerbaijan has clearly stated its demands, stating that if Russia does not admit its guilt and does not take responsibility, Baku is ready for further action,” the agency’s publication says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not intend to speak on the topic of the crash of the Azerbaijani plane, in particular, to comment in any way on Baku's decision to appeal to the international court. His press secretary Dmitry Peskov made this statement today in response to a correspondent's question.
On December 25, a passenger plane of the Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau. It is known that there were 67 people on board, of which 42 were citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 of Russia, 6 of Kazakhstan and 3 of Kyrgyzstan. 29 passengers survived.
The official causes of the disaster have not yet been announced, but the dominant version is that the plane came under fire from Russian air defense systems during an attack by Ukrainian drones on the territory of Chechnya. On February 4, the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan published a preliminary report on the crash of the plane. The document states that as part of the investigation, foreign objects found in the fin and stabilizer area were removed for further analysis. The report does not provide any information on what these "foreign objects" were.
