Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has apologised to the president of neighbouring Azerbaijan over the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace, in which 38 people were killed – but stopped short of saying Russia was responsible.
In his first comments on the Christmas Day crash, Putin said the “tragic incident” had occurred when Russian air defence systems were repelling Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky said Russia must “stop spreading disinformation” about the strike.
The plane is believed to have come under fire from Russian air defence as it tried to land in the Russian region of Chechnya – forcing it to divert across the Caspian Sea.
The Azerbaijan Airlines jet then crash-landed near Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board.
Most of the passengers on the flight were from Azerbaijan, with others from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
It is believed most of those who survived were seated in the plane’s rear.
Flight J2-8243 had been en route from the Azerbaijan capital of Baku to the Chechen capital of Grozny on 25 December when it came under fire and was forced to divert.
The Kremlin released a statement on Saturday noting Putin had spoken to Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev by phone.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologised that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” it said.
In the rare publicised apology, Putin also acknowledged the plane had repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya.
At the time, the cities of Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were “being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks”, he said.
The Kremlin read-out made no direct admission that the plane had been struck by Russian missiles.
In a statement released a shortly after the Kremlin’s, Ukrainian President Zelensky said the damage to the aircraft’s fuselage was “very reminiscent of an air defence missile strike”, adding that Russia “must provide clear explanations”.
“The key priority now is a thorough investigation that will answer all questions about what really happened.”
Prior to Saturday, the Kremlin had refused to say whether it was involved in the crash with authorities saying they were awaiting investigation results.
But Russian aviation authorities had earlier in the week said the situation in the region was “very complicated” due to Ukrainian drone strikes.
Aviation experts and others in Azerbaijan believe the plane’s GPS systems were affected by electronic jamming and it was then damaged by shrapnel from Russian air defence missile blasts.
Survivors had previously reported hearing loud bangs before the plane crashed, suggesting it had been targeted.
Azerbaijan had not officially accused Russia this week, but the country’s transport minister said the plane was subject to “external interference” and was damaged inside and out as it tried to land.
US defence officials on Friday had also said they believed Russia was responsible for the downing.
Moscow noted that Russian investigators had launched a criminal investigation. Azerbaijan had already announced it would launch an investigation.
The Kremlin said that Azeri, Kazakh and Russian agencies were “working closely at the site of the disaster in Aktau region”.
Even before Putin’s message on Saturday was released, several airlines from Azerbaijan had already begun suspending flights to most Russian cities.
The suspension will remain in place until the investigation into the crash is complete, one airline said.
