MOSCOW: Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday (Dec 28) apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for a “tragic incident” which happened in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed this week.
Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologised 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,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was travelling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
Putin’s call with Aliyev came after speculation grew that Russian air defence may have accidentally shot down the plane.
Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defences had mistakenly shot it down.
Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, had noted that the plane had been “subjected to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control and redirection to the Kazakh city of Aktau,” according to Azerbaijan’s presidential office.
The Embraer EMBR3.SA passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s southern Chechnya region, before veering off hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.
During the conversation, Putin said his country’s air defence was active as the plane was trying to land. The Russian leader did not claim responsibility for the crash.
The Kremlin said the pair had discussed questions around the crash “in detail”.
It also said it was “closely” cooperating with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on the crash.
Statements by Azerbaijani officials suggest Baku believes the plane was hit mid-air, while the US has said it had “early indications” Russian air defence may have been responsible for the crash.
Source: CNA
