Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Azerbaijan’s leader on Saturday, December 28, following the tragic crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that claimed 38 lives.
However, he refrained from accepting responsibility, calling the incident a “tragic event” but not acknowledging Moscow’s involvement.
Putin’s apology came amid rising claims that the plane was shot down by Russian air defences attempting to intercept a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
A Kremlin statement confirmed that air defence systems were active near Grozny airport as the airliner made multiple landing attempts on Wednesday. However, it did not explicitly state that the plane was hit by these systems.
The statement mentioned that Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the tragic incident occurring in Russian airspace.”
It also noted that a criminal investigation had been launched by Russia, with Azerbaijani state prosecutors arriving in Grozny to assist. Authorities from Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near Aktau in Kazakhstan.
The flight, traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, unexpectedly diverted toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers away from its intended destination, and crashed during an attempted landing. There were 29 survivors.
According to a statement from Aliyev’s office, the Azerbaijani president informed Putin that the plane had been subjected to “external physical and technical interference,” though he stopped short of blaming Russian air defences. Aliyev pointed out that the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and those passengers had been injured due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister both suggested that an external weapon was responsible for the crash, echoing the conclusions of aviation experts who believed the incident was caused by Russian air defences responding to a Ukrainian attack.
Survivors of the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises as the plane circled over Grozny. Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, confirmed that Ukrainian drones were targeting Grozny as the plane prepared to land in heavy fog, prompting air traffic restrictions. After two failed landing attempts, the captain opted to fly to Aktau.
Following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines cited “physical and technical interference” as the cause and suspended flights to several Russian airports, though it did not provide further details or specify the source of the interference.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also spoke with President Aliyev and called for Russia to provide clear explanations. He posted on X, stating, “Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation. Photos and videos clearly show the damage to the aircraft’s fuselage, including punctures and dents, which strongly suggest a strike by an air defence missile.”
