By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ukraine’s presidency on Friday said Russia should be held accountable for the deadly crash of an Azerbaijani passenger plane in which 38 people were confirmed dead.
The Ukrainian position comes after reports that the jet was shot at by a Russian air defence missile.
“Russia must be held responsible for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. Condolences to the relatives of the victims,” presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on social media.
In response, the head of Russia’s civil aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, said Friday that Ukrainian drones were attacking the city of Grozny as an Azerbaijani Airlines plane was trying to land there, before it later crashed in Kazakhstan.
Yadrov said on Telegram that there was heavy fog over Grozny city when the incident occurred on Wednesday and “conditions that day and in those hours around the airport were very complicated.”
“Ukrainian military drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure… at the time,” Yadrov alleged, adding that the plane made two unsuccessful attempts to land.
“The pilot was offered alternative airports. He took the decision to go to Aktau airport” in Kazakhstan, he said.
According to Yadrov, Grozny airport had suspended arrivals and departures because of the Ukrainian drone attacks, without specifying when this happened.
Sixty-seven people were on board the Azerbaijan Airlines jet that crashed on Christmas Day in western Kazakhstan.
Media reports have quoted Azerbaijani officials as saying they suspect a Russian air defence missile caused the crash.
Moscow has, however, said it will not comment on the development until the investigation is fully concluded.
