Plane crash
After plane crash: Kremlin chief Putin apologizes
Updated 12/28/2024 – 2:40 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
After the crash of an Azerbaijani plane, Moscow faced accusations of guilt. Now Kremlin chief Putin is calling his Azerbaijani colleague – with an explanation.
After the passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan with 38 deaths, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the incident. “Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident taking place in Russian airspace,” the Kremlin said in Moscow after a telephone conversation between the two.
Accordingly, Putin also stated that at the time the Russian air defense was deployed against Ukrainian drone attacks. However, Putin did not say so clearly that the anti-aircraft defense had hit the plane with a missile.
Putin “once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery,” the Kremlin said. During the conversation, it was noted that the Azerbaijani passenger plane repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. “At the same time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, with Russian air defense repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wrote on Platform X that he had also spoken to Aliyev and expressed his condolences. Russia must give explanations and stop spreading disinformation. Photos and videos clearly showed the damage to the aircraft’s fuselage, which strongly suggested that the plane had been hit by an anti-aircraft missile.
The Kremlin’s statement said that Russian investigators had opened a case for violating air traffic safety rules. “The initial investigative measures are underway and civil and military specialists are being interviewed.”
In addition, two employees of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office are in Grozny, where they are working with representatives of the Russian side. Investigators from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are also continuing their work at the crash site near Aktau, it said.
At around the same time as the statements from Moscow, EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas called for a rapid, independent international investigation. Reports that Russian fire may have caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane were strongly reminiscent of flight MH17, the EU foreign policy chief wrote on platform Anti-aircraft missile fired. All 298 people on board died.
The Azerbaijani government had previously spoken publicly for the first time about using weapons against the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan. Damage to the wreckage and witness statements suggested that the aircraft had sustained external damage. This happened over the original destination airport of Grozny in Russia.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board flew over the Caspian Sea despite its damage. She crashed while attempting to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan.
