Drone footage shows emergency experts working at the scene of the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024.
Azamat Sarsenbayev | Reuters
Russian President Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President for this incident Civilian passenger plane crashed The Kremlin said on Saturday that 38 people were killed in the accident, but did not admit responsibility.
“Vladimir Putin apologizes for this incident Tragic incident in Russian airspace“, the Kremlin said.
Putin told Ilham Aliyev that the passenger plane “tried to land several times” at Grozny airport, which was under “restraint” Ukrainian combat drone“.
Putin said Russian air defense systems “repelled these attacks.”
He did not say whether the plane was hit Russian air defense system But the Kremlin said The investigation is ongoing and civilian and military experts are being questioned.
An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Christmas Day, 38 of the 67 people on board died..
According to a press release from Aliyev’s office, the Azerbaijani president disclosed to Putin evidence indicating “external physical and technical interference,” noting that it occurred in Russian airspace.
Aliyev mentioned multiple holes in the plane’s fuselage, injuries suffered by passengers and crew due to “foreign objects entering the cabin during the flight,” as well as testimonies from surviving passengers and crew, some of whom said they feel the explosion before the plane crashed.
Two U.S. military officials told NBC News on Friday that the plane may have been hit by a Russian missile and said they had intelligence that Russia may have misidentified the plane and shot it down.
Officials said intelligence suggested the Russians believed the airliner was a drone, in part because of an erratic flight pattern.
The Embraer 190 aircraft encountered “physical and technical external interference” en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya region, the airline said on Friday.
Russian officials warned against speculating on the cause of the crash, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that Russia was “awaiting the results” of the investigation.
However, the country’s Aviation Ministry Rosaviatsia earlier said that the situation around the destination Grozny airport was “very complex” and that the Ukrainian drone was nearby.
Rosaviatsia also said that due to thick fog at an altitude of 1,600 feet and incompetence, the pilot finally chose to divert after trying to land in Grozny twice and failing.
