Putin apologises for Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, without saying Russia at fault
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his counterpart in neighboring Azerbaijan for the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace, killing 38 people, but stopped short of saying Russia was responsible.
In his first comments on the Christmas Day crash, Putin said the “tragic incident” occurred when Russian air defense systems were actively fighting off Ukrainian drones.
The plane was reportedly attacked by Russian air defenses while trying to land in Chechnya, forcing it to reroute over the Caspian Sea.
The plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
The Kremlin issued a statement on Saturday noting that Putin had spoken by phone with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“President Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the statement said.
The Kremlin had not commented on the crash before Saturday. But Russian aviation authorities said the situation in the region was “very complex” due to Ukrainian drone strikes in Chechnya.
Azerbaijani aviation experts and others believe the plane’s GPS system was affected by electronic jamming and then damaged by shrapnel from an exploding Russian anti-aircraft missile.
Survivors had previously reported hearing loud noises before the crash, suggesting the plane had been targeted.
Azerbaijan has not officially accused Russia this week, but its transport minister said the plane suffered “external interference” while trying to land and was damaged both inside and outside.
U.S. Defense Department officials also said on Friday they believed Russia was responsible for the downing.
Putin acknowledged in a phone call on Saturday that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had repeatedly tried to land at Chechnya’s Grozny airport on December 25.
According to a Kremlin statement, Putin said that Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikrysk were attacked by Ukrainian drones and that Russian air defense systems repelled the attacks.
Moscow noted that Russian investigators had launched a criminal investigation. Azerbaijan has announced it will launch an investigation.
