Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the president of neighboring Azerbaijan for the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace that killed 38 people, but stopped short of saying Russia was responsible.
In his first comments on the crash on Christmas Day, Putin said the “tragic incident” occurred when Russian air defense systems actively repulsed Ukrainian drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia should “stop spreading disinformation” about the strike.
The plane was reportedly fired upon by Russian air defense systems as it attempted to land in Chechnya – forcing it to divert across the Caspian Sea.
It crash-landed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board.
The Kremlin released a statement on Saturday noting that Putin spoke by phone with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery,” the statement said.
The Kremlin's testimony did not directly admit that the plane was hit by a Russian missile.
Before Saturday, the Kremlin refused to say whether it was involved in the crash. But Russian aviation authorities said the situation in the region was “very complicated” due to Ukrainian drone strikes in Chechnya.
Aviation experts and others in Azerbaijan believe the plane's GPS systems were affected by electronic jamming and it was then damaged by shrapnel from Russian anti-aircraft missile blasts.
Survivors earlier reported hearing loud bangs before the plane crashed, suggesting it had been targeted.
Azerbaijan has not formally blamed Russia this week, but the country's transport minister said the plane was subject to “external interference” and was damaged inside and out while trying to land.
US defense officials on Friday also said they believed Russia was responsible for the downing.
In a Kremlin statement released shortly afterward, Zelensky said the damage to the plane's fuselage was “very reminiscent of an air defense missile strike,” adding that Russia “must provide clear explanations.”
“The main priority now is a thorough investigation that will answer all the questions about what really happened.
In Saturday's phone call, Putin acknowledged that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya on December 25.
At that time Grozny in Chechnya and Mozdok and Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia were attacked by Ukrainian drones and Russian air defense systems repelled those attacks, Putin said, according to the Kremlin statement.
Moscow noted that Russian investigators had opened a criminal investigation. Azerbaijan has already announced that it will launch an investigation.
The Kremlin said Azeri, Kazakh and Russian services were “working closely together at the disaster site in the Aktau region.”