Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, has apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, for the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace last Wednesday, which resulted in the deaths of 38 people. However, he stopped short of acknowledging Russia’s responsibility for the incident.
The apology comes as several airlines have announced the suspension of flights to Russian cities following suggestions by Western experts and the United States that the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight may have been caused by a Russian anti-aircraft missile.
In his first comments on the Christmas Day crash, Putin referred to the “tragic incident” and explained that it had occurred while Russian air defence systems were actively repelling Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, responded by saying that Russia must “stop spreading disinformation” about the incident.
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The plane was reportedly struck by Russian air defence systems as it attempted to land in Chechnya, forcing it to divert across the Caspian Sea before crash-landing in Kazakhstan. Of the 67 people on board, 38 were killed.
The Kremlin released a statement yesterday confirming that Putin had spoken by phone with Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev. The Kremlin’s readout did not directly acknowledge that the plane had been hit by a Russian missile.
Prior to Saturday, the Kremlin had refrained from commenting on Russia’s potential involvement in the crash. However, Russian aviation authorities had stated that the situation in the region was “very complicated” due to Ukrainian drone strikes on Chechnya.
Aviation experts and officials in Azerbaijan have suggested that the plane’s GPS systems were affected by electronic jamming, and that it was subsequently damaged by shrapnel from Russian missile blasts. Survivors had reported hearing loud bangs before the crash, which indicated the plane had likely been targeted.
Although Azerbaijan has not officially blamed Russia, the country’s transport minister stated that the plane had been subjected to “external interference” and had been damaged both inside and out as it attempted to land.
Putin acknowledged that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had made several attempts to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya on December 25. At the time, Grozny, along with Mozdok and Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia, were under attack by Ukrainian drones, and Russian air defences had repelled these attacks, according to Putin’s statement from the Kremlin.
Moscow also noted that Russian investigators had launched a criminal investigation into the incident, with Azerbaijan having already announced its intention to do the same.
The Kremlin added that Azerbaijani, Kazakh, and Russian agencies were working together at the site of the disaster in the Aktau region.
Meanwhile, several airlines have announced the suspension of flights to Russian cities in the wake of the incident.
