Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his regret to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace, which resulted in the deaths of 38 people. However, he did not acknowledge Russia’s responsibility for the incident.
In his first remarks regarding the crash on Christmas Day, Putin described the event as a “tragic incident” that occurred while Russian air defense systems were engaged in countering Ukrainian drone attacks.
Reports indicated that the plane was struck by fire from Russian air defense systems as it attempted to land in Chechnya, forcing it to reroute over the Caspian Sea. It ultimately crash-landed in Kazakhstan, resulting in 38 fatalities among the 67 people on board.
The Kremlin issued a statement on Saturday, revealing that Putin had spoken by phone with Azerbaijan’s president. The statement quoted Putin as saying, “(President) Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.”
Before Saturday, the Kremlin had refrained from commenting on the crash, although Russian aviation authorities had described the situation in the region as “very complicated” due to Ukrainian drone strikes in Chechnya.
Azerbaijani aviation experts believe the plane’s GPS systems were disrupted by electronic jamming, followed by damage from shrapnel caused by Russian air defense missile explosions. Survivors previously reported hearing loud bangs before the crash, suggesting the plane had been targeted.
Although Azerbaijan had not officially blamed Russia, the country’s transport minister stated that the plane had been subjected to “external interference” and was damaged both inside and out during its landing attempt.
U.S. defense officials had also stated on Friday that they believed Russia was responsible for the downing of the plane.
During the phone call on Saturday, Putin acknowledged that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight had made multiple attempts to land at Grozny Airport in Chechnya on December 25. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz were under attack by Ukrainian drones, and Russian air defense systems had successfully repelled those strikes, according to Putin’s statements, as reported by the Kremlin.
Moscow also noted that Russian investigators had initiated a criminal probe into the incident. Azerbaijan had previously announced plans to conduct its own investigation.
