Putin apologizes to Aliyev because the Embraer 190 crash began in Russian airspace

Putin estimates that a Ukrainian attack and the Russian response could have prevented an initial landing attempt in Grozny

The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has apologized to his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, because the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 plane began in Russian airspace, although at no time has he admitted responsibility for a hypothetical downing of the device, as The White House gave a glimpse yesterday.

On Christmas Day, the plane, which was covering the route between the Azeri capital, Baku, and the Russian region of Grozny, crashed three kilometers from the airport in the Kazakh city of Aktau, leaving 38 dead and 29 injured, most of them serious.

Just after a couple of hours of flight, the plane requested an emergency landing. Unable to land in Grozny, the pilot diverted the plane first to Makhachkala, in Russian Dagestan, and then to Aktau, where it finally crashed.

Putin has estimated that Ukrainian drones were attacking Grozny at the time the plane was conducting its approach maneuvers and that Russian forces had activated the air defense protocol at that time.

“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian combat unmanned aerial vehicles, repelled by the Russian defense system,” Putin said, according to the Kremlin statement.

Currently two employees of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan are in Grozny, where they work together with representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. The airline has indicated that the accident was due to “physical and technical interference”, without giving further details for now.

The Presidency of Azerbaijan, in its statement on the conversation, agrees that “Vladimir Putin expressed his apologies for the tragic incident” of the device, subject to the aforementioned “interference” in Russian airspace.

Aliyev stressed to Putin that the multiple holes in the fuselage of the aircraft, the injuries suffered by passengers and crew due to foreign particles that penetrated the cabin in mid-flight and the testimonies of flight attendants and surviving passengers, confirm the first conclusions of the research in this regard.

During their discussions, the heads of state highlighted the need for a thorough and detailed investigation into all the details of the tragedy, ensuring that those responsible are held accountable.

The Azeri president has also announced that, at the initiative of Azerbaijan, a team of international experts has been formed to investigate in detail the causes of the accident, and this team has already started its work.

“The heads of state also reaffirmed that the investigation into the tragedy will be carried out with full transparency and regular updates will be provided to the public,” concludes the statement, published by the official Azertag news agency.