Aliyev made the accusation in an interview to state media at Baku airport four days after the AZAL plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people of the 67 people on board.
Aliyev’s unusually forthright accusation of his country’s traditional ally came a day after he spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from the outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control,“ Aliyev told state television.
Aliyev said that while “of course, our plane was hit by accident”, Baku was angry that Moscow had apparently tried to hide the cause of the crash and demanded its ally admit what happened.
“For the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except some absurd theories,“ he said, adding that these included the plane hitting a flock of birds.
Russia has said Grozny was being attacked by Ukrainian drones the day the AZAL flight tried to land.
Aliyev urged Moscow to issue a public apology to his country, saying Baku had made official “demands” to Russia two days ago.
“Second, it must acknowledge its guilt.
“These are our conditions,“ Aliyev said, in unusually strong language towards Moscow.
Putin said Russian air defence was operating in Grozny on December 25 when the plane tried to land, before diverting and crashing in western Kazakhstan.
Aliyev’s office said on Saturday he had “emphasised” during the call that the plane had been subject to outside interference over Russia.
The United States said this week it had “early indications” that Russia was responsible for the crash but did not provide details.
The European Union called on Saturday for a “swift” and “independent” probe into the crash.
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