Investigators inspect wreckage of the Azerbaijan Airlines’ passenger plane at the crash site near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday evening after the deadly crash killed 38 of 67 passengers and aircrew. Photo by STR/EPA-EFE
Dec. 28 (UPI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.
Putin on Saturday called Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev regarding the plane crash that killed 35 passengers, the aircraft’s two pilots and one crew member among its 67 occupants.
“During the conversation, Vladimir Putin expressed his apologies regarding the tragic incident” that occurred after the aircraft “was subjected to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace,” Aliyev said in an online announcement.
“President Putin extended his deepest and most sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the crash and wished a swift recovery to the injured,” Aliyev said.
Aliyev agreed the aircraft “encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting incomplete loss of control.”
“Multiple holes in the aircraft’s fuselage, injuries sustained by passengers and crew due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight and testimonies from surviving flight attendants and passengers confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference,” he said.
Putin and Aliyev agreed a “thorough and comprehensive investigation into all the details of the tragedy” should occur to ensure “those responsible are held accountable.”
The Azerbaijani passenger airliner “was flying according to schedule and repeatedly tried to land at Grozny Airport,” Putin said Saturday in an online statement.
“Unmanned combat aerial vehicles attacked Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz,” Putin said. “Russian air defense systems were repelling those attacks.”
Putin said the Russian Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case into the matter and Russian investigators are working in Grozny and with those from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan at the crash site at the Aktau airport in Kazakhstan.
While Putin said Grozny was under attack by Ukrainian drones when the Azerbaijan Airlines plane tried to land, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha on Friday blamed Russia for the deadly crash in a post on X.
After expressing condolences to Azerbaijan officials, Sybiha said a Russian anti-aircraft system caused the deadly crash.
“Russian media lied about the cause of the crash,” Sybiha said. “Russia forced the damaged jet to cross the [Caspian] Sea, most likely in an attempt to conceal evidence of their crime.”
Sybiha called photos and videos of the plane’s cabin a “smoking gun” that shows a Russian anti-aircraft system struck the airliner.
“We call for a fair and impartial investigation to ensure that those responsible are held to account,” Sybiha said in a subsequent post. “We must not let Russia lie, avoid responsibility of shift blame.”
U.S. National Security Adviser John Kirby on Friday agreed it appears Russian anti-aircraft caused the jet to crash but said it’s important to wait for a joint investigation by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to conclude.
“We do have … some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems,” Kirby told media on Friday.
“There’s an ongoing investigation right now,” Kirby added. “We have offered assistance to that investigation should they need it [or] should they want it.”
The airliner was flying from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, Wednesday morning when it encountered problems with its control system.
The one-hour route from Baku to Grozny runs parallel to the western coast of the Caspian Sea, but the aircraft diverted from that course and flew east across the sea to the Aktau airport, where it crashed after flying for 2 hours and 33 minutes.
Initial explanations said the plane was diverted due to weather and suggested a bird strike might have damaged it prior to the crash.