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Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijan for the “tragic incident” involving an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace on Christmas Day.
The Kremlin’s press office said on Saturday that Moscow called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who expressed his “deep and sincere condolences” to the families of those affected.
On Christmas Day, an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 flight from Baku to Grozny diverted over the Caspian Sea and crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials blamed Russian anti-aircraft fire for the crash.
While the Kremlin’s statement on Saturday did not explicitly confirm that Russian air defense systems were responsible, it also did not deny the accusation.
The Kremlin said the plane “made several attempts to land at Grozny airport” while Ukrainian fighter jets were attacking nearby cities and Russian air defenses were “reacting to these attacks.”
“Vladimir Putin apologizes for the tragic incident in Russian airspace,” the statement said.
The statement added that Russia’s Investigative Committee had opened a criminal investigation into alleged violations of aviation safety regulations and “civilian and military experts were questioned”.
Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Russian officials have launched formal investigations under Baku.
Putin’s carefully worded admission contrasted with Moscow’s repeated denials of responsibility for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which investigators blamed on a surface-to-air missile controlled by Moscow-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. launched on the territory of. A Dutch court has found three men with ties to the Russian military guilty of murder for their role in the incident.
Richard Giragosian, director of the Center for Regional Studies, a Yerevan think tank, said the Kremlin’s announcement was “both unexpected and out of character” for Putin.
He said the move “exposes the overall weakness of Russia’s position” as Moscow continues to wage war against Ukraine. He added that Putin clearly “values relations with Turkey, Azerbaijan’s asylum state, above all else.”
Moscow-based political scientist Andrei Kolesnikov said that as a result of the plane crash, “Azerbaijani society became anti-Russian overnight.”
Russia’s main aviation authority initially said the Kazakh crash was caused by a bird strike on the plane’s engine. Azerbaijan’s president said he was told the plane was diverted due to bad weather conditions.
On Friday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said “early indications” suggested the plane had been hit by a Russian air defense system. Azerbaijani Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev said that day that the crash was caused by a weapon impact.
Survivors, including passengers and crew, described explosions as the plane flew over Grozny.
On Thursday, the head of Russia’s main aviation authority, Dmitry Yadrov, admitted that air conditions around Grozny were “very difficult” due to attacks by Ukrainian fighter jets.
In response to the disaster, five airlines suspended some flights to Russia.
Turkmenistan Airlines suspended its route from Ashgabat to Moscow, and Azerbaijan Airlines, Kazakhstan Airlines and Emirates all suspended routes to southern Russia. El Al has suspended its Tel Aviv-Moscow route.
Additional reporting by Robert Wright in London
