Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan for Russian Air defences being responsible for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight which crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan on Christmas Day killing 38 people.
The flight from Baku was due to land at Grozny Airport in Russia but was struck by 3 surface-to-air missiles which exploded near the aircraft fatally damaging its flight controls. The pilots fought to control the aircraft and attempted to make an emergency landing on the other side of the Caspian Sea but the aircraft broke apart on landing and caught fire.
Miraculously, 29 people survived the crash and all consistently told investigators that they heard 3 loud bangs before the problems started with the aircraft. Images from the crash site also showed evidence of shrapnel damage to the tail and elevators.
In a rare statement from the Kremlin, Russian authorities said: “Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that 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,”
Stopping short of an actual “It was us” admission, Russia said that at the time of the incident, the region was under attack by Ukrainian drones, a country which it has been at war with following an illegal invasion by Russia in 2022.
Authorities are also investigating whether Russia used electronic countermeasures to interfere with the plane’s guidance systems.
The statement also says that Putin had spoken to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev by telephone earlier today and admitted to him that the plane had repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport on Christmas Day.
Azerbaijan says it has launched a criminal investigation into the disaster.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243 was operating a scheduled flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny in the Chechnya region of Russia.
