MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he known as a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 folks, however stopped wanting acknowledging that Moscow was accountable.
Putin’s apology got here as allegations mounted that the aircraft had been shot down by Russian air defenses trying to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike close to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
An official Kremlin assertion issued Saturday stated that air protection techniques had been firing close to Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It didn’t explicitly say one in every of these hit the aircraft.
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The assertion stated Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the truth that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”
The readout stated Russia has launched a prison probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to take part. The Kremlin additionally stated that “related companies” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are collectively investigating the crash web site close to town of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
The aircraft was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned towards Kazakhstan, a whole lot of kilometers (miles) throughout the Caspian Sea from its meant vacation spot, and crashed whereas attempting to land. There have been 29 survivors.
In response to a readout of the decision supplied by Aliyev’s press workplace, the Azerbaijani president advised Putin that the aircraft was topic to “exterior bodily and technical interference,” though he additionally stopped wanting blaming Russian air defenses.
Aliyev famous that the aircraft had a number of holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained accidents “attributable to overseas particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.”
He stated {that a} group of worldwide consultants had begun probing the incident at Azerbaijan’s initiative, however supplied no particulars. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor Basic’s workplace confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny.
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an exterior weapon, echoing these made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air protection techniques responding to a Ukrainian assault.
Passengers and crew who survived the crash advised Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane because it was circling over Grozny.
Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, stated Friday that because the aircraft was making ready to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones had been concentrating on town, prompting authorities to shut the realm to air visitors.
Yadrov stated that after the captain made two unsuccessful makes an attempt to land, he was provided different airports however determined to fly to Aktau.
Earlier within the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early proof as exhibiting {that a} chicken strike led to an emergency on board.
Within the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airways blamed “bodily and technical interference” and introduced the suspension of flights to a number of Russian airports. It didn’t say the place the interference got here from or present any additional particulars.
If confirmed that the aircraft crashed after being hit by Russian fireplace, it might be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to combating in Ukraine. Malaysia Airways Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 folks aboard, because it flew over the realm in japanese Ukraine managed by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.
Russia has denied accountability, however a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for his or her position in downing the aircraft with an air protection system introduced into Ukraine from a Russian navy base.
Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and close by Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airways introduced Friday that it might additionally halt service to eight extra Russian cities.
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A number of different airways have made comparable bulletins for the reason that crash. Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air on Friday stated it might cease flying from Astana to the Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg within the Ural Mountains for a month.
Turkmenistan Airways, the Central Asian nation’s flagship service, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for at the least a month, citing security issues. Earlier this week, Israel’s El Al service suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.”
