MOSCOW: Russia's Vladimir Putin apologized on Saturday to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev for a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving a Kazakhstan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Putin called Aliyev as speculation grew that Russian air defense may have accidentally shot down the plane, which crashed in western Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, with 28 surviving.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a fireball near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities.
The Russian leader did not claim responsibility for the crash, although he apologized to Aliyev because the incident took place in Russian airspace.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deepest and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement. a statement.
“In the conversation it was noted that the Azerbaijani passenger plane, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were under attack by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and Russian aircraft. “Defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin said the call was made at Putin's request.
The president of Azerbaijan had noted that the plane had been “subject to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control and a redirection to the Kazakh city of Aktau,” according to the presidential office of Azerbaijan.
The Embraer EMBR3.SA passenger plane had flown from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny in the Chechnya region of southern Russia, before diverting hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.
Statements from Azerbaijani officials suggest that Baku believes the plane was hit in midair, while the United States has said it had “early indications” that Russian air defense may have been responsible for the crash.
