Azerbaijan's president says crashed jetliner was shot down by Russia, albeit not intentionally

MOSCOW -- Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally.

Aliyev told Azerbaijani state television the aircraft was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare. He said that the jet wasn’t shot down deliberately, but accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days.

The crash on Wednesday killed 38 of 67 people on board. The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Aliyev on Saturday for what he called a “tragic incident” but stopped short of acknowledging Moscow’s responsibility.