President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told the Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, in a phone call, “that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.”According to The New York Times, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia apologized to Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev in a phone call for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that killed 38 people. This statement broke the Kremlin’s three-day silence on the accident, but did not explicitly acknowledge Russia’s responsibility for the crash.
During the call, Mr. Putin initiated the conversation and expressed his apologies for the incident, stating that it took place in Russian airspace. He also explained that as the plane approached its destination of Grozny, Russian air defenses were responding to an attack by Ukrainian drones on the Grozny airport and nearby areas.
While the Kremlin statement did not directly attribute the crash to a Russian missile, aviation experts and U.S. officials believe that a Russian air-defense missile may have mistakenly downed the passenger jet. In response to the apology, Azerbaijan’s presidential office released a statement suggesting that external interference in Russian airspace was the cause of the crash.
President Aliyev emphasized that the pilots’ courage and professionalism allowed the plane to make an emergency landing. The statement also praised the pilots for their quick thinking and skill in a difficult situation.
It is believed that the crash was caused by a Russian missile, but the Kremlin has not officially acknowledged this. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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