Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane. In a statement on Saturday, the Kremlin spoke of a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace, without explicitly acknowledging responsibility.
The Kremlin confirms that Russian anti-aircraft systems were active at the time of the disaster to repel a Ukrainian drone attack. The statement does not state whether this was also the cause of the crash.
In a telephone conversation with Aliyev, Putin apologized “for the fact that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace,” the report said. declaration. It is the first time that Moscow has responded to the air disaster, in which 38 of the 67 passengers died last Wednesday.
The passenger plane was on its way from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny on Wednesday, where it had made several unsuccessful landing attempts, according to Moscow. After the plane was damaged, it veered east and crashed in Kazakhstan during an emergency landing.
In the days after the crash, rumors of Russian involvement emerged. The White House confirmed Friday that there are indications that Russian air defenses downed the plane.
Azerbaijan also takes into account that the plane was shot down. “The first conclusions of experts point to outside influence,” Azerbaijani Transport Minister Rashan Nabiyev said on Friday. This would have resulted in complete loss of control over the aircraft. Russia was not mentioned in the statement.
The EU urged on Saturday for a quick and independent investigation into what exactly happened.