The UK has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s apology following the fatal plane crash in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day that killed dozens of people, calling Russia’s moves “reckless”.
A total of 38 people were killed and 29 survived when Kazakhstan Airlines flight J2-8243 crashed near Aktau in southwestern Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Travel from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Several reports have suggested Russian air-defense systems operating around Grozny were responsible for the crash, although the exact causes remain unclear.
If Russian air defense systems are proven to blame for the crash, Moscow could find itself in a tricky diplomatic scenario with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, at a time when strained relations with their neighbors will please Russia.
Putin “appears to be trying to smooth over possible tensions in the Russian-Azerbaijani and Russian-Kazakh relationships,” the U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War said on Saturday.
The Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft departed at 3:55 a.m. UTC on Wednesday (10:55 p.m. ET Tuesday) and traveled for half an hour before coming across “significant GPS interference,” flight-tracking data suggested. It then sent location data intermittently, most of it assumed to be inaccurate, according to FlightRadar24.
The plane crashed hundreds of miles from its intended destination, and across the Caspian Sea. Footage showed the aircraft speeding toward the ground, with its landing gear engaged before crashing and bursting into flames.
Experts, officials, and open-source intelligence analysts quickly suggested Russian air defenses may have been responsible for the crash, saying that videos from the scene showed shrapnel damage.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirthrough told reporters on Friday that Washington had noted “early indications that would indeed point to the option that this plane shot down through Russian air defense systems. ” .
According to a Kremlin statement, a call between Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the Russian leader “apologized for the fact that the incident occurred in Russian airspace. “
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane “repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport,” while Ukrainian drones attacked the Chechen capital and two cities in the neighboring North Ossetia-Alania region,” Putin said.
Russian air defenses were “repelling those attacks” at the time, Putin said, according to the statement, but he did not settle for the duty of shooting down the plane.
The British government said the statement “fails to recognize that the reckless and irresponsible actions of the Russian state pose an acute and direct threat to the interests and national security of other states,” Sky News reported.
A report of the verbal exchange between Putin and Aliyev, released through Azerbaijan’s presidential office, states that the Russian leader “expressed his apologies” for the crash, as the plane was “subject to external physical and technical interference in the airspace Russian”.
Aliyev “emphasized that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control,” according to the presidential statement.
Another statement through Baku said Aliyev also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Aliyev told Azerbaijani state television on Sunday that the aircraft “was damaged from outside on Russian territory,” adding: “We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia.”
“We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done,” Aliyev said, going on to accuse Russia of attempting to “hush up” the crash.
“Unfortunately, for the first three days we had no news from Russia, according to wild accounts,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
NBC News reported Friday that the U. S. had intelligence that Russia may have misidentified the plane as a drone before shooting it down, bringing up two U. S. military officers.
British Government in a statement: Putin “recognizes that the reckless and irresponsible moves of the Russian state represent an acute and direct risk to the interests and national security of other states. “
Steve Rosenberg, editor-in-chief of BBC Russia on X, formerly Twitter: “Exceptional apologies from the Kremlin, without admitting its duty for the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 in Kazakhstan. “
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X: “The key priority now is a thorough investigation to provide answers to all questions about what really happened. Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation. Photos and videos clearly show the damage to the aircraft’s fuselage, including punctures and dents, which strongly point to a strike by an air defense missile.”
Moscow said it had launched a criminal investigation into the twist of fate and that officials from Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general’s office had arrived in Grozny. Baku said for its part that it had requested a “team of foreign experts” to investigate the cause of the turn of fate, and that those officials had already begun their investigations.
“The heads of state also reaffirmed that the investigation into this tragedy will be carried out in full transparency, with normal updates to the public,” Azerbaijan’s presidency said.
Kirby said on Friday that the U.S. had offered assistance to Kazakh and Azerbaijani authorities in their investigations, “should they want it.”
Update 12/29/2024 8:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Ellie Cook is a security and defense journalist for Newsweek based in London, UK. His paintings focus largely on the Russia-Ukraine war, the U. S. military, weapons systems, and emerging technologies. She joined Newsweek in January 2023, after working as a journalist at the Daily Express and holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign journalism from City University London. Languages: English, Spanish. Ellie can be reached via email at e. cook@newsweek. com.