Putin apologized for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash but did not admit fault
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to the president of neighboring Azerbaijan for the downing of a commercial airliner over Russian airspace, killing 38 people – but did not say Russia was responsible.
In his first comments on the Christmas Day accident, Putin said the “tragic incident” occurred when Russian air defense systems were repelling Ukrainian drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said Russia must “stop spreading false information” about the attack.
The plane is believed to have come under fire from Russian air defenses while attempting to land in Russia’s Chechnya region – forcing it to divert over the Caspian Sea.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane later made an emergency landing near Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Most of the passengers on the flight were from Azerbaijan, with others from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
It is believed that most of them Who survives? sat in the back of the plane.
Flight J2-8243 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Chechen capital Grozny on December 25 when it was hit and forced to divert.
The Kremlin on Saturday issued a statement noting that Putin spoke with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev by phone.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologizes for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims as well as wished a speedy recovery to the injured. recovery,” the notice read.
In a rare public apology, Mr. Putin also admitted that the plane had repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya.
He said at the time that the cities of Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were “under attack by Ukrainian drones and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks”.
The Kremlin’s announcement did not directly acknowledge that the plane was hit by a Russian missile.
In a statement issued shortly after the Kremlin, Ukrainian President Zelensky said the damage to the fuselage was “very reminiscent of an anti-aircraft missile attack”, adding that Russia “must come up with clear explanation”.
“The main priority now is a thorough investigation to answer all questions about what really happened.”
Before Saturday, the Kremlin had refused to speak whether it was related to the accident remains to be seen as authorities say they are awaiting the results of the investigation.
However, Russian aviation officials said earlier this week that the situation in the region was “very complicated” due to Ukrainian drone attacks.
Aviation experts and others in Azerbaijan believe that the plane’s GPS system was affected by electronic jamming and that it was later damaged by shrapnel from a Russian anti-aircraft missile explosion.
Survivors previously reported hearing a loud bang before the plane crashed, suggesting it had been targeted.
Azerbaijan did not officially accuse Russia this week, but the country’s Transport Minister said the plane had suffered “external interference” and was damaged inside and out while trying to land.
US defense officials on Friday also said they believed that Russia must be responsible for the takedown.
Moscow noted that Russian investigators had opened a criminal investigation. Azerbaijan has announced it will open an investigation.
The Kremlin said Azeri, Kazakh and Russian agencies were “working closely at the scene of the disaster in the Aktau region”.
Even before Putin’s message on Saturday was announced, several airlines from Azerbaijan began suspending flights to most Russian cities.
One airline said the suspension would remain in place until the investigation into the crash was complete.