Putin apologizes to Aliyev after the crash of the Azerbaijani plane

SE/STA

28. 12. 2024, 15.40

Updated: 28 December 2024, 19.03

“During this time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, and the Russian air defense repelled these attacks,” is Putin said to Ali. At the same time, according to the reports of foreign press agencies, he did not state that the Russian air defense had hit the plane. Since Wednesday’s crash, there has been speculation that the plane may have been hit by a Russian missile. In today’s conversation, Putin did not admit Russia’s responsibility, but he apologized to Aliyev. “Vladimir Putin has apologized for the fact that this tragic incident took place in Russian airspace,” they announced from the Kremlin.

Aliyev told Putin that the plane had crashed “due to external technical influence” over Russia. “President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane encountered external physical and technical interference while flying in Russian airspace, which resulted in a complete loss of control,” the office of the President of Azerbaijan announced. They added that Aliyev emphasized that this was also confirmed by the numerous holes in the plane’s fuselage, the injuries suffered by passengers and crew, and the testimonies of surviving passengers and crew members.

Later, Putin also spoke with his Kazakh colleague on the phone about the overthrow Kasim-Zomart Tokajev and said Moscow was committed to participating in an objective and transparent investigation into the crash. He also said that the investigation will take place on the territory of Kazakhstan, and the Kazakh government commission in charge of it will invite Russian, Azerbaijani and Brazilian experts to participate, the Kremlin said.

The Embraer 190 of Azerbaijan Airlines on its way from Baku to Grozny was unable to land in the Chechen capital on Wednesday due to bad weather conditions, so it was diverted to another airport. The plane crossed the Caspian Sea and then circled over the area where it eventually crashed near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan. 38 of the 67 people on board the plane died. The Kremlin announced today that Russian investigators have launched a procedure for violating air traffic safety rules. “The first investigative measures are underway, we have interviewed civilian and military experts,” they wrote down.

A cruel reminder of the Malaysia Airlines tragedy

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kalla however, she called for a quick and independent international investigation of the event. As she wrote on the X social network, the incident is a “cruel reminder” of the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane in 2014 over eastern Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile of pro-Russian rebels.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences to Ali in a telephone conversation. On the X network, he emphasized that Russia must explain the incident and stop spreading disinformation.

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Airlines are canceling flights to Russia

Between December 27 and January 3, flights between Dubai and the cities of Mineralnye Vody and Sochi in the south of Russia were canceled by the airline flydubai from the United Arab Emirates.

The Kazakh airline Qazaq Air has announced the cancellation of flights to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg until the end of January.

The Israeli airline El Al has also announced that it is temporarily suspending flights to Moscow. Azerbaijan Airlines also canceled flights to ten Russian airports.

Turkmenistan Airlines announced that regular flights between Ashgabat and Moscow on December 30 and January 31 have been cancelled. No reason was given for the decision.