Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an apology to the president of Azerbaijan for the passenger airplane crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people.

“Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace,” the Kremlin said, according to NBC News.

“The Kremlin press office confirmed in a statement on Saturday that Russia’s air defense systems were active when the plane attempted to land in Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic. The aircraft was unable to reach the airport and diverted eastward, ultimately crashing near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing at least 38 people on board,” The Epoch Times wrote.

Per NBC News:

The airliner had “repeatedly attempted to land” at the Grozny airport, Putin told Ilham Aliyev, which at the time was being “attacked by Ukrainian combat drones.”

Russian air defense systems “repelled these attacks,” Putin said.

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He did not say if the plane was hit by Russian air defenses but the Kremlin said that an investigation was underway and civilian and military specialists were being interrogated.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash-landed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Christmas day, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.

According to a readout by Aliyev’s office, the Azerbaijan president told Putin of the evidence suggesting “external physical and technical interference,” specifying that it happened in Russian airspace.

A U.S. official previously told media outlets that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have shot down the Azerbaijan Airlines plane.

Footage shows the aircraft hurtling towards the ground and bursting into flames upon impact.

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“The man who filmed a video for his wife as the Azerbaijan Airlines fell from the sky, miraculously survived, filmed another video showing apparent shrapnel damage. It is now suspected that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian air defenses. Subkhon Rakhimov, the man who filmed the video, shared footage of damage towards the rear of the plane,” Collin Rugg wrote.

“Survivors say there was an explosion outside the plane before it went down. Reports say Russian air defenses hit the plane thinking it was a Ukrainian drone. Only 29 people survived,” he added.

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From the Associated Press:

Putin’s apology came as allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane.

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The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”

The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that “relevant services” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

 

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