Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart on Saturday for what he called a “sad incident” after the crash of an Azerbaijani plane in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of recognizing that Moscow was to blame.
Putin's apology came amid widespread allegations that the plane was shot down by Russian air defenses trying to stop a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian Republic of Chechnya.
An official Kremlin statement released on Saturday said air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the plane “repeatedly” attempted to land on Wednesday. He did not clearly say that one of these hit the plane.
The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the tragic incident that took place in Russian airspace.”
The read said that Russia has launched a criminal investigation into the incident, and that Azerbaijani state prosecutors have 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 the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to Grozny when it turned into Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while trying to come ashore 29 people survived.
As more evidence suggests that a missile may have brought down the Azerbaijan Airlines flight, some survivors are talking about the moments before the plane went down in Kazakhstan.
According to a readout of the statement provided by Aliyev's press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to “external physical and technical interference”, although he did not blame the country's air defenses. Russia.
Aliyev noted that there were several holes in his plane and that the occupants were injured “due to foreign particles entering the cabin in the middle of the flight. “
On Friday, a US official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on a foreign weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash of Russian air defense systems in response to the Ukrainian attack.
Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane as it circled over Grozny.
Dmitry Yadrov, the 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 targeted the city, forcing authorities to close the area to air traffic.
Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau.
As Azerbaijan mourns the deaths of 38 people aboard a flight that crashed in Kazakhstan, experts are pointing to signs they say indicate a missile, possibly from Russia, that it was the fault.
Earlier this week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early evidence showing that a bird strike caused an emergency on board.
In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed “physical and technical obstacles” and announced the cancellation of flights to several Russian airports. He did not say where the block came from or provide further details.
