Putin apologises to Azerbaijan’s president over ‘tragic’ plane crash | Politics News

Vladimir Putin says the incident took place in Russian airspace, but does not acknowledge Russia’s possible involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for what he called a “tragic incident”. after a fatal accident of Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft this week in Kazakhstan.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan on Wednesday of the capital city of Baku in Groznythe regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, when it veered toward Kazakhstan and crashed while attempting to land. Thirty-eight people were killed.

In a statement on Saturday, the Kremlin said Russian air defense systems fired near Grozny in response to a Ukrainian drone attack, but did not say whether one of them had hit the plane.

“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 the injured a speedy recovery,” the Kremlin said.

At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian drones, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks.

Authorities across Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating as speculation continues about what brought down the plane.

Statements by Azerbaijani officials suggest Baku believes the plane was shot down in mid-air, while the United States said it had “early indications” that Russian air defenses may have been responsible for the crash.

The chief diplomat of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, called on Saturday for a “swift, independent international investigation” into the accident.

Reporting from the Russian capital of Moscow, Al Jazeera journalist Dorsa Jabbari noted that Putin did not acknowledge any role Russian forces may have played in the crash during his conversation with Aliyev.

“The Russian President [is] acknowledging for the first time that this incident occurred over Russian airspace, but not acknowledging the possibility that the Russian military had any role in bringing it down,” Jabbari said.

She added that the incident occurred amid increased Ukrainian drone strikes and attacks on Russian territory in recent weeks.

“What we see now is, after three years of this conflict [between Ukraine and Russia] … more and more, the civilian population inside Russia” feels it their country is at warJabbari said.

‘External disturbances’

Aliyev, Azerbaijani Presidenttold Putin during their talks on Saturday that the plane “encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, which resulted in a complete loss of control,” the presidency said in a statement.

It added that Aliyev “stressed that multiple holes in the plane’s fuselage, injuries sustained by passengers and crew due to foreign particles that entered the cabin during the flight, and testimonies of surviving flight attendants and passengers confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference.”

This was repeated by Rashan Nabiyev, the state minister of digital development and transport, who told Azerbaijani media that the preliminary conclusions of experts and witness testimony “point to external influence.”

“The type of weapon used in the attack will be determined during the investigation,” Nabiyev said.

White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday that the US had seen “some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was shot down by Russian air defense systems.”

Kirby declined to provide further details due to the ongoing investigation.

Responding to Kirby’s accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We have seen these statements. It is inappropriate for the presidential administration to comment on this.”

The Kremlin said on Saturday that Russia was working “closely” with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan over the downing of the plane.