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Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijan for what he described as a “tragic accident” involving an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace on Christmas Day.
The Kremlin press office said on Saturday that Moscow had telephoned Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Russian president expressed his “deep and sincere condolences” to the families of those affected.
The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 was flying from Baku to Grozny on Christmas Day when it changed course across the Caspian Sea and made an emergency landing near Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Senior US and Ukrainian officials blamed the incident on Russian anti-aircraft fire.
Although the Kremlin's statement on Saturday did not explicitly confirm that Russian air defense systems were responsible, it did not deny the allegation.
The Kremlin said the plane “repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport” while Ukrainian drones were attacking nearby cities and Russian air defenses were “responding to these attacks.”
The statement said, “Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace.”
The statement added that a Russian investigative committee opened a criminal investigation into alleged violations of aviation safety rules, with “interrogation of civilian and military specialists.”
Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Russian officials are already conducting a formal investigation led by Baku.
Putin's carefully worded admission contrasts sharply with Moscow's repeated denials of responsibility for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, which investigators attributed to Russian-controlled fighter jets.
Russia's main aviation authority initially indicated that the accident resulted from a bird colliding with the plane's engine. The Azerbaijani President said that he was informed that the plane changed its course due to bad weather conditions.
John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said on Friday that there were “early indications” that the plane had been hit by Russian air defenses. Rashad Nabiyev, Azerbaijani Minister of Transport, said on the same day that the accident was caused by a weapon collision.
Survivors, including passengers and crew, described explosions that occurred outside the plane as it flew over Grozny.
The head of Russia's main aviation authority, Dmitry Yadrov, admitted on Thursday that weather conditions around Grozny were “very difficult” due to attacks by Ukrainian fighter drones.
In response to the disaster, five airlines suspended some flights to Russia.
Turkmen Airlines suspended its flights from Ashgabat to Moscow, while Azerbaijan Airlines, Kazakh Airlines, and the Emirates Flydubai suspended all their flights to southern Russia. The Israeli airline El Al suspended its flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow.
Additional reporting from Robert Wright in London
