Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the president of neighboring Azerbaijan for shooting down a commercial plane in Russian airspace, killing 38 people, but stopped short of saying Russia was responsible.
In his first comment on the incident that occurred on Christmas Day, Putin said that the “tragic incident” occurred when Russian air defense systems were actively repelling Ukrainian drones.
The plane was reported to have come under fire from Russian air defense systems as it attempted to land in Chechnya, forcing it to divert across the Caspian Sea.
The plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board.
The Kremlin issued a statement on Saturday indicating that Putin spoke by phone with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologized 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 for the injured,” the statement said.
Before Saturday, the Kremlin had not yet commented on the incident. But Russian aviation authorities said the situation in the region was “extremely complicated” due to Ukrainian drone strikes on Chechnya.
Aviation experts and others in Azerbaijan believe the plane's GPS systems were affected by electronic jamming and then damaged by shrapnel from Russian air defense missiles.
Survivors had previously reported that they heard loud noises before the plane crashed, indicating that it had been targeted.
Azerbaijan did not formally accuse Russia this week, but the country's transport minister said the plane was subjected to “external interference” and suffered damage from the inside and outside while trying to land.
US defense officials also said Friday they believe Russia was responsible for shooting down the plane.
In a phone call on Saturday, Putin admitted that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane repeatedly tried to land at Grozny Airport in Chechnya on December 25.
According to the Kremlin statement, Putin said that Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz were attacked at that time by Ukrainian drones, and Russian air defense systems repelled those attacks.
Moscow indicated that Russian investigators have begun a criminal investigation. Azerbaijan has already announced that it will launch an investigation.
