As we reported earlier, President Ilham Aliyev, in an interview with local media yesterday, spoke in detail about the AZAL aircraft operating the Baku-Grozny flight on December 25 being attacked by Russian air defense systems over Grozny airspace, sustaining serious damage, and subsequently heading towards Kazakhstan due to being denied permission to land at nearby airports, where it crashed in Aktau.

Axar.az reports that in his interview, President Aliyev also expressed his special gratitude to Kazakhstan's rescue and medical workers who risked their lives to assist from the very first moments, placed bouquets of flowers in front of our consulate, and shared in our grief over the accident. He also recalled calling President Tokayev to convey his thanks.

Kazakhstan's media broadcast this part of President Aliyev's statement in the original language with subtitles.