Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the President of Azerbaijan for this Civilian aircraft crash The Kremlin said on Saturday that 38 people were killed, without admitting responsibility.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for that A tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace“said the Kremlin.
The plane “repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport,” Putin told Ilham Aliyev, who was “attacked” on the time Ukrainian combat drones.”
Russian air defense systems “repelled these attacks,” Putin said.
He did not say whether the plane was hit Russian air defense but the Kremlin said that an investigation was underway and civilian and military specialists were being questioned.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day. 38 of the 67 people on board were killed.
According to a readout from Aliyev's office, Azerbaijani President Putin shared evidence indicating “external physical and technical interference” and stated that it took place in Russian airspace.
Aliyev mentioned several holes in the plane's fuselage, injuries to passengers and crew members “resulting from foreign particles that entered the cabin throughout the flight,” and statements from surviving passengers and crew members, some of whom had claimed this felt explosions before the plane crashed.
Two U.S. military officials told NBC News on Friday that the plane may have been hit by Russian missiles, saying they had information suggesting the Russians may have misidentified the plane and shot it down.
Intelligence suggested the Russians believed the plane was a drone, partly due to an irregular flight pattern, the officials said.
The Embraer 190 was subjected to “physical and technical interference from outside,” the airline said on Friday, as the plane was en route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny, the capital of the Russian region of Chechnya.
Russian officials have warned against speculating about the cause of the crash, and on Saturday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was “awaiting the outcomes of the investigation.”
However, the country's aviation ministry, Rosaviatsia, previously said that the situation around the destination airport of Grozny was “very complicated” resulting from the presence of Ukrainian drones nearby.
Rosaviatsia also said that at an altitude of 1,600 feet there was thick fog and no visibility and the pilot finally decided to divert after two unsuccessful attempts to land in Grozny.
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