Vladimir Putin says an incident took place in Russian airspace, but does not admit Russia's involvement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for what he called a “sad incident” after the fatal crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane this week in Kazakhstan.
The plane was flying on Wednesday from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Groznythe regional capital of the Russian Republic in Chechnya, when it turned towards Kazakhstan and crashed while trying to land. Thirty-eight people were killed.
In a statement on Saturday, the Kremlin said that Russian air defense systems fired near Grozny as a result of a drone strike in Ukraine, but stopped short of saying that one of them hit the plane.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident in the Russian airspace and again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the people a speedy recovery who were injured,” the Kremlin said.
“At that time, unmanned aerial vehicles attacked Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks.”
Authorities across Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating as speculation about what brought down the plane continues.
Statements by Azerbaijani officials suggest Baku believes the plane was shot down in mid-air, and the United States has said it had “early indications” that Russian air defenses may have been responsible. cause of the accident.
The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, Saturday called for a “swift, independent international investigation” into the disaster.
Reporting from the Russian capital Moscow, Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari noted that Putin did not acknowledge any possible role of Russian forces in the disaster when he was called by Aliyev.
“The Russian president (a) acknowledges for the first time that this incident took place over Russian airspace but stops short of admitting that the Russian military may have played any part in bringing it down,” Jabbari said.
She said the incident occurred amid increased Ukrainian drone strikes and attacks on Russian territory in recent weeks.
“What we see now, after three years of this conflict (between Ukraine and Russia)… more and more, the civilian population in Russia” feels that their country is at warJabbari said.
'External obstruction'
Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijanto Putin in their talks on Saturday that the plane had “engaged in external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, leading to a complete loss of control”, the president said in a statement.
He also said that Aliyev “pointed out that the many holes in the fuselage of the plane, the injuries of passengers and crew due to foreign particles entering the cabin in the middle of the flight, and testimonies from – flight attendants and remaining passengers confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference”.
That was raised by Rashan Nabiyev, the country's minister of digital development and transport, who told Azerbaijani media that preliminary findings by experts and witness testimony “point to external influence”.
“The type of weapon used in the victory will be determined during the investigation,” said Nabiev.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday that the US has seen “early indications that would certainly indicate that this jet could be brought down by Russian air defense systems “.
Kirby declined to provide further details, citing an ongoing investigation.
Responding to Kirby's allegations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “We have seen these statements. It is inappropriate for the presidential administration to comment on this. “
The Kremlin said on Saturday that Russia was “closely” cooperating with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on the disaster.
