Putin Apologizes For ‘Tragic Incident’ of Azerbaijani Plane

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart on Saturday for what he called a “tragic incident” after the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but he did not acknowledge that Moscow was responsible.

Putin’s apology came as allegations grew that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone attack near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian Republic of Chechnya.

An official Kremlin statement released Saturday said air defense systems fired near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” tried to land there on Wednesday. He did not explicitly say that one of these hit the plane.

The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.”

The reading said that Russia has launched a criminal investigation into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said “relevant services” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan were jointly investigating the crash site near the Kazakh city of Aktau.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making a attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.

According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev’s press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to “external physical and technical interference,” though he stopped short of blaming the Russian air defense.

Aliyev said the plane had several holes in its fuselage and that the occupants suffered injuries “due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin during the flight.”

He said that a team of international experts had begun to probe the incident at the initiative of Azerbaijan, but did not give details. Earlier this week, Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed that Azerbaijani investigators are working in Grozny.

On Friday, a US official and an Azerbaijani minister issued separate statements blaming the crash on a foreign weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on defense systems Russian aircraft responding to a Ukrainian attack.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane as it flew over Grozny.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said on Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones targeted the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.

Yadrov said that after the captain made two failed attempts to land, he was offered other airports, but decided to fly to Aktau.

Earlier in the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified initial evidence showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board.

In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. He did not say where the interference was coming from or provide further details.

If it is proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian fire, it would be the second fatal civil aviation accident linked to the fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people on board, while flying over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russian Ukrainian for their role in the downing of the plane with an air defense system brought to Ukraine from a military base russian

Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and nearby Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it will also stop service to eight other Russian cities.

Several other airlines have made similar announcements since the crash. Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air on Friday said it will stop flying from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month.

Turkmenistan Airlines, the flagship carrier of the Central Asian country, on Saturday suspended flights to Moscow for at least a month, citing security concerns. Earlier this week, Israeli carrier El Al suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.”