MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan's president for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people.
The Kremlin said in a statement that a Ukrainian drone attack hit an air defense system near Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechen Republic, as the plane tried to land on Wednesday. The plane was not shot down by Russian air defenses.
Putin apologized to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that a tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace,” according to a Kremlin reading of the call.
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny when it veered towards Kazakhstan and crashed while attempting to land. There were 29 survivors.
On Friday, U.S. officials and Azerbaijan's ministers issued separate statements blaming the crash on external weapons.
Friday's assessment by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed that of outside aviation experts, who blamed Russian air defenses responding to the Ukrainian attack. Ta. Neither Kirby nor Azerbaijani ministers directly addressed the statement condemning air defense.
Kirby told reporters Friday that the U.S. has “identified some initial indications that we do have some early indications that this fighter jet may have been shot down by Russian air defense systems,” but that an investigation is ongoing. He declined to provide details because of this.
Azerbaijan's Minister of Digital Development and Transport Nabiyev told Azerbaijani media that “the preliminary conclusions of experts point to external consequences,” as well as eyewitness testimony.
Passengers and crew members who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises coming from the plane circling over Grozny.
Dmitry Yadorov, head of Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviasia, said on Friday that the plane was about to land in Grozny in heavy fog when Ukrainian drones targeted the city and authorities closed the area to air traffic. said.
After two unsuccessful attempts to land, the captain was offered other airports, but decided to fly across the Caspian Sea to Aktau in Kazakhstan, Yadorov said.
He did not comment on statements by some aviation experts who said holes in the plane's tail suggested it may have been hit by Russian air defense systems.
Earlier this week, Rosaviazia cited unspecified early evidence that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike caused an emergency on board.
Days after the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports, blaming “physical and technical interference”. It did not say where the interference came from or provide further details.
