Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident.” This apology followed the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. However, he stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.
Putin apologized. Allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses. They were trying to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said air defense systems were active near Grozny airport. The airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane.
The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. He expressed regret that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.
The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident. Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that “relevant services” from Russia are investigating the crash site. Services from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are also participating. The crash site is near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny. It turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination. The plane crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.
The Azerbaijani president spoke to Putin. According to a readout of the call from Aliyev’s press office, the president informed Putin about the plane. He said it was prone to “external physical and technical interference.” He stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses.
Aliyev noted that the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage. The occupants sustained injuries because foreign particles penetrated the cabin mid-flight.
He said that a team of international experts had begun probing the incident at Azerbaijan’s initiative, but provided no details. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny.
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements. They blamed the crash on an external weapon. These statements echoed those made by aviation experts. The experts blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.
On Saturday, President Joe Biden responded to a reporter’s question. The reporter asked if he thought Putin should take responsibility for the crash. He said, “Apparently he did but I haven’t spoken to him.” Biden commented on leaving church in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
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