Vladimir Putin says the incident took place in Russian airspace, but does not admit any Russian involvement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, for what he called a “dangerous” incident. following the fatal accident of Azerbaijan Airlines this week in Kazakhstan.
The plane was flying on Wednesday from Azerbaijan Baku capital to Groznythe capital of the Russian state of Chechnya, when it turned to Kazakhstan and crashed while trying to land. 38 people were killed.
In a statement on Saturday, the Kremlin said Russian air defense systems were firing near Grozny in response to a drone strike in Ukraine, but stopped short of saying that one of them had hit the plane.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragedy in Russian airspace and offered his deepest and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery,” the Kremlin said.
“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian drones, and the Russian air defense forces defeated them.”
Authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating whether the suspected downing of the plane is still ongoing.
Statements by Azerbaijani officials indicate that Baku believes the plane hit the ground, while the United States said it had “initial indications” that Russian air defenses may have been responsible for the crash.
Professionals too he told Al Jazeera this week that Russian air defense officials could have shot down the plane after panicking during the Ukrainian drone strike.
They reported the damage to the plane's body in a number of ways that raised suspicions in Moscow.
Kaja Kallas, High Commissioner of the European Union. Saturday he called A “prompt, independent international investigation” into the accident.
Reporting from the Russian capital in Moscow, Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari said that Putin did not acknowledge any Russian military involvement in the threat during the call with Aliyev.
“The Russian president (admits) for the first time that this happened on Russian airspace but he failed to admit that the Russian military was involved in removing this,” Jabbari said.
He said the incident was a result of increased Ukrainian airstrikes and Russian attacks in recent weeks.
“What we see now is that, after three years of this conflict (between Ukraine and Russia) … more and more, ordinary people in Russia” feel that their country is at warJabbari said.
'External interference'
Aliyev, p President of Azerbaijantold Mr. Putin during their meeting on Saturday that the plane “experienced physical and technical interference from outside while it was in the Russian airspace, which caused it to fail”, the president said in a statement.
He said that Aliyev “also showed that the several holes in the plane, the injuries suffered by passengers and crew due to small particles entering the plane, as well as the testimonies of the surviving flight attendants and passengers confirm the evidence of foreign and technological interference” .
This was also reported by Rashan Nabiyev, the country's minister of digital development and transport, who told Azerbaijani media that what experts and witness evidence “shows foreign affairs”.
“The type of weapon used in the attack will be known during the investigation,” Nabiyev said.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday that the US had seen “initial indications that the plane was downed by Russian air defense systems”.
Kirby declined to comment further because of the ongoing investigation.
In response to Kirby's statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “We have seen this statement. It is not appropriate for presidential officials to comment on this matter.
The Kremlin said on Saturday that Russia was “closely cooperating” with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan over the crisis.