Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart on Saturday for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani plane in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but he did identify Moscow’s responsibility.
Putin’s apology comes amid growing accusations that the plane was shot down through Russian air defenses in an attempt to deflect a Ukrainian drone attack near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
An official Kremlin statement issued on Saturday said that air defence systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane.
Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace. “
Said Russia launched a criminal investigation into the incident and Azerbaijani prosecutors arrived in Grozny to participate.
The Kremlin also said that “relevant services” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometres across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.
Survivors recount the moments of the Azerbaijan Airlines crash
According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev’s press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to “external physical and technical interference,” although he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defences.
Aliyev noted that the plane had several holes in the fuselage and that the occupants were injured “due to foreign debris that entered the cabin in mid-flight. “
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defence systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.
Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane as it flew over Grozny.
Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said on Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.
Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, other airports were presented to him, but he had not yet reached Aktau.
Missile may have brought down Azerbaijan flight, experts say
Earlier in the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board.
In the days following the crash, Azerbaijani Airlines blamed “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It did not specify where the interference came from or provide further details.
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