Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane destined for Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day.
In his first comments since the crash that killed 38 of the 67 people on board, Putin expressed his condolences but did not blame Moscow.
Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin and Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry for comment.
Azerbaijan is Russia’s best friend and could be difficult for Putin if Moscow is proven to be the culprit.
Anton Barbashin, editorial director of Riddle Russia, an online journal of Russian affairs, posted on X on Friday that Azerbaijan is “crucial for Russia’s regional infrastructure ambitions” and that he believed Putin would have to apologize.
U. S. officials have said Moscow was to blame for the plane crash, but Baku has not officially blamed Russia. Azerbaijan said the plane was subject to “external interference” as it attempted to land.
Flight 8243, which was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, to the Russian city of Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, killing at least 38 people.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and, upon his return, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of those affected and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a press release. .
The Kremlin said that as the plane landed in Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ukrainian drones carried out strikes.
“Meanwhile, Grozny [and the cities of] Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were under attack by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defense repelling those attacks,” Putin told Aliyev, without specifying whether Russian air defense had attacked the plane.
Azerbaijan’s presidency said in a statement that Aliyev had emphasized the plane encountered “external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control.”
Multiple holes in the plane’s fuselage, injuries to passengers and equipment due to foreign debris that entered the cabin mid-flight, and survivor testimonies “confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference,” Array said in the statement. of press.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X that he had also expressed his condolences to Aliyev and called for “a thorough investigation. ” He said Russia “must give transparent explanations and prevent the spread of disinformation. “
The Kremlin said in its statement: “Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace.”
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said on X: “The key priority now is a thorough investigation to provide answers to all questions about what really happened.”
The presidency of Azerbaijan stated: “President Ilham Aliyev noted that the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control. “
Janis Kluge, deputy head of the Eastern Europe & Eurasia Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs posted on X: “Fascinating: Putin apologizes to Ilham Aliyev…he didn’t publicly admit it was a Russian missile, but the apology is as close as Moscow will get to admitting anything.”
Russians, Azerbaijanis and Kazakhs are at the scene of the crisis in the Aktau region. Moscow said Russian investigators had opened an investigation into criminals and Baku had already announced it would publish its own investigation.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, compared the incident to the 2014 downing by Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine of MH17, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
In an article on
Updated on 12/28/24 at 10:36 a. m. ET: This article has been updated with more information.
Brendan Cole is a senior journalist at Newsweek based in London, UK. It focuses on Russia and Ukraine, i. e. the war through Moscow. It also covers other geopolitical spaces, adding China. Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from International Business Times and, in addition to English, knows Russian and French. You can contact Brendan by emailing b. cole@newsweek. com or writing to the email. to him on his account X @brendanmarkcole.