Putin apologises for Azerbaijan Airlines crash, without saying Russia at fault

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to the president of neighboring Azerbaijan for the downing of a Russian commercial airliner, which killed 38 people – but stopped short of blaming Russia.

In his first statement on the Christmas Day crash, Mr Putin said a “tragic incident” had occurred when Russian air defense systems were chasing down Ukrainian drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said Russia should “stop spreading fake news” about the strike.

The plane was reportedly fired upon by Russian anti-aircraft fire as it attempted to land in Chechnya – forcing it to divert across the Caspian Sea.

It crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board.

The Kremlin released a statement on Saturday that Putin had spoken to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev by phone.

“(President) Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragedy that happened on the Russian plane and expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished them a speedy recovery for the injured,” he said.

The Kremlin reading did not directly confirm that the plane was shot down by a Russian missile.

Before Saturday, the Kremlin declined to say whether it was involved in the crash. But Russian aviation officials said the situation in the region was “extremely difficult” because of the bombing of Ukrainian planes in Chechnya.

Aviation experts and others in Azerbaijan believe that the plane’s GPS was affected by an electrical shock and damaged by shrapnel from a Russian missile blast.

Survivors have previously reported hearing a loud noise before the plane crashed, suggesting it was headed straight for the plane.

Azerbaijan did not blame Russia this week, but the country’s transport minister said the plane had been disrupted by “external interference” and suffered internal and external damage as it attempted to land.

US defense officials on Friday said they believed Russia was responsible for the crash.

In a statement released shortly after the Kremlin press conference, Zelensky said the damage to the plane’s fuselage was “very reminiscent of an anti-aircraft missile strike”, adding that Russia “must provide a clear explanation”.

“The most important thing now is a thorough investigation that will answer all the questions about what really happened.”

In a phone call on Saturday, Putin acknowledged that Azerbaijan Airlines had repeatedly attempted to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya on December 25.

At that time, Grozny in Chechnya and Mozdok and Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia. are being attacked by Ukrainian drones and Russian air defense systems have neutralized the threats, Putin said, according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Moscow said Russian investigators had launched a criminal investigation. Azerbaijan has already announced that it will launch an investigation.

The Kremlin said that the Azeri, Kazakh and Russian organizations are “working together with the site of the Aktau tragedy”.