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KILLER VLAD
Passenger plane WAS shot down by Putin and then the Russians tried to cover it up, blasts Azerbaijan’s president Aliyev
Horror footage captured the plane's final moments
AZERBAIJAN president Ilham Aliyev confirmed the passenger plane that crashed killing 38 people was shot down by Russia.
Aliyev made the blistering public statement after a phone call with Vladimir Putin in which the tyrant apologised for the disaster.
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He confirmed the plane had been jammed by electronic warfare weapons before being shot at by the Russians.
Aliyev raged he wanted Russia to accept it was guilty of downing the plane and punish those responsible for fatally damaging the aircraft.
Speaking on state TV, he said: "Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia.
"We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter."
He said however that he accepted the plane was shot down in an "accident".
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 crashed on Christmas Day in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
The plane had been flying from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it was blasted by an air defence missile.
Hero pilots managed to keep the crippled jet flying over the Caspian Sea - where it then went into a death plunge and crashed.
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The crew have been lauded in Azerbaijan for landing in a way which allowed 29 people to survive but led to their own deaths.
Putin has been attempting to keep Kazakhstan within Russia's sphere of influence - and the jet disaster and cover-up will drive a wedge between the two former Soviet states.
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It comes after shamed Putin made a mealy-mouthed apology over the crash in a call with Aliyev.
But despite apologising, Vlad continued to dodge taking responsibility for the disaster.
He instead was merely sorry it happened in his airspace.
He described the crash as a "tragic incident" - but did admit that Russian air defences were active at the time of the approach by the plane.
The 72-year-old insisted his troops were repelling Ukrainian drones attacking the Russian region of Chechnya.
And the Kremlin confirmed they have launched their own criminal investigation into the crash.
The plane is believed to have been downed by a newly-installed Pantsir-S air defence system after it was mistaken for a drone.
Russia had instead tried to blame the crash on a "bird strike".
The crash is a chilling echo of the MH17 disaster - in which Russian-backed rebel forces shot down a Boeing 777 killing 298 people.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky blasted Putin for spreading "disinformation" about the crash.
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He said: "We noted the heroism of the pilots and the entire crew of the aircraft.
"The key priority now is a thorough investigation that will answer all questions about what really happened.
"Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation.
"The photos and videos clearly show damage to the aircraft's fuselage, including holes and dents that are very reminiscent of an air defense missile strike."
In a statement on the phone call, the Kremlin said: “A detailed discussion was held regarding the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane on 25 December near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
“Vladimir Putin expressed his apologies for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace."
Investigators from all nations involved have descended on the crash site as they try to piece together the plane's final minutes.
They found the black box of the doomed flight which revealed the haunting final words the pilot said just moments before the plane crashed on the ground.
Struggling to control the plane, one of the pilots said: "I can't execute, control is lost!"
The pilots tried to take the plane to three different airports but failed to land.
They lost communication with the ground crew before vanishing off the radar for 37 minutes.
Footage emerged showing terrified passengers making final video calls and leaving messages as the aircraft began to plunge.
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Distressed people on board can be seen jumping out of their seats as they try to make sense of the situation.
As the oxygen masks dangled in the air, some passengers started to scream in horror, while others called their loved ones and began praying.
Miracle survivors reveal plane's final moments
By James Halpin
SURVIVORS of the Christmas Day plane crash have revealed from their hospital beds the final moments of the doomed jet shot down by Russia.
Passengers on Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 said they heard loud bangs as the plane came in to land in Chechnya.
The nightmare journey killed 38 on board - but only after the noises left travellers fearing the plane might "fall apart" mid-air and the plane fled Russia.
Survivor Vafa Shabanova said: "About 20 or 30 minutes after takeoff, we felt two explosions.
"The plane was supposed to land, but it didn’t. Something exploded inside twice."
Speaking from his hospital bed, passenger Subhonkul Rakhimov said: "When the first bang happened, I looked (around), quickly assessed the situation, and I thought that the plane was going to fall apart.
"A couple more seconds passed, but it didn't fall apart."
"The flight attendants immediately entered the cabin (and started telling the passengers): 'What are you doing, don't get up under any circumstances, everyone quickly get back to your seats, everyone sit down, everyone calm down, everything is fine, everything will stabilize'."
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