Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan that resulted in 38 fatalities, according to the Kremlin.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident occurring in Russian airspace,” the Kremlin in Moscow announced on Saturday following a phone conversation between the two leaders.
Putin reportedly also explained that at the time, Russian air defence was actively countering Ukrainian drone attacks. However, he did not clearly state that the air defence had hit the plane with a missile.
Putin “once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery,” the Kremlin said further.
The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet, which had taken off from Baku heading for Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, crashed on Wednesday in Kazakhstan.
During the phone conversation between Putin and Aliyev, it was noted that the Azerbaijani passenger plane had repeatedly attempted to land at the airport in Grozny. “At the same time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, which Russian air defence repelled,” the Kremlin reported.
Vladikavkaz is the capital of the Russian republic of North Ossetia. Mozdok is also in North Ossetia.
Initial investigations had raised the suspicion that the plane that crashed might have been damaged by the explosion of an anti-aircraft missile.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy wrote on the X platform that he had also spoken to Aliyev and expressed his condolences. Russia must provide explanations and stop spreading disinformation, Zelensky said.
It its statement the Kremlin said that Russian investigators had opened a case for the violation of air-traffic safety rules. “The first investigative measures are under way, and civilian and military specialists are being interviewed.”
In addition, two employees of the Azerbaijani Public Prosecutor’s Office are in Grozny, where they are working with representatives of the Russian side. Work also continued at the crash site near the Kazakh city of Aktau, with investigators from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, it was reported.
The Azerbaijani government had previously spoken publicly for the first time about the use of weapons against the passenger aircraft that crashed in Kazakhstan.
Damage to the wreckage and witness statements suggested that the aircraft had been damaged from the outside, which had happened over the original destination airport of Grozny in Russia.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, with 67 people on board, continued flying despite the damage. It crashed while attempting to land in Aktau.
