AKIPRESS.COM - President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev called on Russia to punish the perpetrators of the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenher jet in Aktau.

He said that Russia should pay compensation to both Azerbaijan and the injured passengers and crew.

"First, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit it guilt. Third, the perpetrators should be punished, prosecuted and the Azerbaijan’s government, injured passengers and crew members should be paid compenations," the President said in the interview with AzTV.

He said that the Russian side on December 28 has fulfilled the first of this conditions.

The final cause of the crash will be known after the analysis of black boxes, Aliyev said. However, he said, the initial versions are justified and indicate that the aircraft received "damage from outside of Russia". He also clarified that the plane was hit unintentionally.

"One of the moments that disappointed and surprised us was the Russian official structures' proposal about a gas cylinder explosion. It looked like an attempt to cover up the issue, which of course does not do honor to the Russian side," he added.  

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed on December 25. 38 people were killed, 67 people were on board. Yesterday, the Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Ilham Aliyev for the tragedy.