Putin apologises to Azerbaijani leader for ‘tragic incident’ after plane crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following a plane crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people.

The Azerbaijani plane was flying on Wednesday from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, when it turned towards Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land.

There were 29 survivors.

In an official statement on Saturday, the Kremlin said air defence systems were firing near Grozny on Wednesday due to a Ukrainian drone strike – but it stopped short of saying one of these hit the plane.

According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Mr Putin apologised to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace”.

On Friday, a US official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon.

Friday’s assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defence systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.

Neither Mr Kirby or the Azerbaijani minister directly addressed the statements blaming air defences.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.

In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It did not say where the interference came from or provide any further details.