Putin apologises to Azerbaijan’s president over ‘tragic’ plane crash

Vladimir Putin says incident occurred in Russian airspace, but does not acknowledge any possible involvement of Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for what he called a “tragic incident” following the deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane this week in Kazakhstan.

The plane was flying on Wednesday from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, when it turned towards Kazakhstan and crashed while attempting to land. Thirty-eight people were killed.

In a statement on Saturday, the Kremlin said Russian air defence systems were firing near Grozny due to a Ukrainian drone strike, but stopped short of saying one of these hit the plane.

“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.

“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks.”

Authorities across Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating as speculation over what brought down the plane continues to swirl.

Statements by Azerbaijani officials suggest Baku believes the plane was hit midair, while the United States has said it had “early indications” Russian air defence may have been responsible for the crash.

Experts also told Al Jazeera this week that Russian air defence officials could very possibly have struck the plane after panicking during the Ukrainian drone attack.

They pointed to physical damage to the aircraft among a series of factors raising suspicion around Moscow’s possible involvement.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, on Saturday called for a “swift, independent international investigation” into the crash.

Reporting from the Russian capital Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari noted that Putin did not acknowledge any role Russian forces may have had in the crash during his call with Aliyev.

“The Russian president [is] acknowledging for the first time that this incident took place over Russian airspace but coming short from admitting the possibility that the Russian military had any part in bringing it down,” Jabbari said.

She added that the incident came amid increased Ukrainian drone strikes and attacks on Russian territory in the past weeks.

“What we are now seeing is, after three years of this conflict [between Ukraine and Russia] … more and more, the civilian population within Russia” is feeling that their country is at war, Jabbari said.

‘External interference’

Aliyev, the Azerbaijani president, told Putin during their talks on Saturday that the plane “encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control”, the presidency said in a statement.

It added that Aliyev “highlighted that the multiple holes in the aircraft’s fuselage, injuries sustained by passengers and crew due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight, and testimonies from surviving flight attendants and passengers confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference”.

That was echoed by Rashan Nabiyev, the country’s minister of digital development and transportation, who told Azerbaijani media that preliminary conclusions by experts and witness testimony “point at external impact”.

“The type of weapon used in the impact will be determined during the probe,” Nabiyev said.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday that the US has seen “some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defence systems”.

Kirby refused to provide further detail on account of an ongoing investigation.

Responding to Kirby’s allegations, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We have seen these statements. It is inappropriate for the presidential administration to comment on this.”

The Kremlin said on Saturday that Russia was “closely” cooperating with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on the crash.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies