President Putin Apologises To Azerbaijan After Air Defence Caused Plane Crash Killing 38 People
Dozens of passengers were killed and wounded in the crash that aviation experts speculated was hit by Russian air defence systems responding to a Ukrainian drone attack.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has apologised to Azerbaijan’s President for the fact that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Russian airspace, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
Dozens of passengers were killed and wounded in the crash that aviation experts speculated was hit by Russian air defence systems responding to a Ukrainian drone attack.
SaharaReporters had on Friday reported that the Azerbaijan Airlines claimed “external interference” was responsible for the ill-fated flight that killed dozens of passengers in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day.
The flight which carried 105 passengers had erupted into a massive fireball upon impact. The ill-fated plane was en route from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, when it reportedly encountered difficulties.
The aircraft went down while attempting an emergency landing, igniting upon contact with the ground. Thick black smoke billowed into the sky as flames engulfed the wreckage.
The plane had originally tried to land at Grozny airport in southern Russia, but witnesses have spoken of an explosion before it was diverted across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan.
In an official statement Saturday, the Kremlin said air defence systems were firing near Grozny due to a Ukrainian drone strike as the plane attempted to land, but stopped short of saying one of these hit the plane.
According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin apologised to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon.
Friday’s assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.
Neither Kirby or the Azerbaijani minister directly addressed the statements blaming air defences.
Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.
