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Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijan for what he called a “tragic incident” involving an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace on Christmas Day.
Moscow spoke by telephone with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Russian president expressed “deep and sincere condolences” to the families of those affected, the Kremlin press office said on Saturday.
The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 plane was flying from Baku to Grozny on Christmas Day when it diverted over the Caspian Sea and crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials blamed the crash on Russian anti-aircraft fire.
Although the Kremlin did not explicitly confirm in its statement on Saturday that Russian air defense systems were responsible, it also did not deny the accusation.
The plane “repeatedly attempted to land at Grozny airport” while Ukrainian combat drones attacked nearby cities and Russian air defenses “responded to these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident in Russian airspace,” the statement said.
A Russian investigative committee has opened a criminal investigation into alleged violations of aviation safety regulations and has “interviewed civilian and military specialists,” the statement added.
Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Russian officials are already conducting an official investigation led by Baku.
Putin’s carefully worded admission stands in stark contrast to Moscow’s repeated denials of responsibility for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which investigators blamed on a surface-to-air missile launched by a Moscow-backed rebel in eastern Ukraine held area. A court in the Netherlands has found three men with ties to the Russian military guilty of murder for their role in the incident.
Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center, a Yerevan-based think tank, said the Kremlin’s statement was “both unexpected and out of character” for Putin.
He said the move “shows the general weakness of Russia’s position” as Moscow continues its war in Ukraine. Putin “clearly values his relationship with Türkiye, Azerbaijan’s patron state, above all else,” he added.
Andrey Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political scientist, said that as a result of the plane crash, “Azerbaijani society has become anti-Russian overnight.”
The main Russian aviation authority initially suspected that the crash in Kazakhstan was caused by a bird strike on the plane’s engine. The Azerbaijani president said he was informed that the plane had been diverted due to bad weather conditions.
On Friday, John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said there were “early indications” that the plane had been hit by Russian anti-aircraft missiles. Azerbaijani Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev said the same day that the crash was caused by a weapon strike.
Survivors, including passengers and crew, have described explosions outside the plane as it flew over Grozny.
On Thursday, the head of Russia’s main aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, admitted that air conditions around Grozny had been “very difficult” due to attacks by Ukrainian combat drones.
In response to the disaster, five airlines have suspended some flights to Russia.
Turkmenistan Airlines has suspended its route from Ashgabat to Moscow, while Azerbaijan Airlines, Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air and UAE carrier Flydubai have all suspended routes to southern Russia. Israeli El Al has suspended its route from Tel Aviv to Moscow.
Additional reporting by Robert Wright in London
