Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the crash of an Azerbaijani Airlines plane, but stopped short of admitting responsibility. He said Russian air defenses were active during the incident, but did not confirm if they shot down the plane.
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised on Saturday over the crash of an Azerbaijani Airlines plane, though he stopped short of accepting that it might have been hit by Russian fire. Putin did admit that Russian air defences were at work when the passenger plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing, and the Kremlin said Putin apologised to Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev over the'tragic incident' in a phone call, but did not say Russian air defence shot the plane.
Moscow had earlier said that Grozny, where the plane was due to land but instead crashed in western Kazakhstan, was attacked by Ukrainian drones that day. Baku, meanwhile, said Aliyev had'emphasised' to Putin the plan was hit by outside interference over Russia. And on the streets of Baku, several residents AFP spoke to said they expected an official apology from their Russian ally.'During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks,' Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript. It added that:'Vladimir Putin had presented his apologies that the tragic incident happened in Russia's air space and again expressed his deep and genuine condolences to the families of the dead, wishing a quick recovery to those affected.' A statement from Aliyev's office on the phone call appeared to show no doubt that the plane was hit over Russia. 'President Ilham Aliyev emphasised that the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control,' Baku's presidency said. It added Aliyev'highlighted that the 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 interferenc
AZERBAIJAN RUSSIA AIRPLANE CRASH APOLOGY AIR DEFENCE
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