Russia's Putin apologizes to Azerbaijan for the “tragic” airliner crash, according to Reuters

By Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn and Nailia Bagirova

MOSCOW/BAKU (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan's leader on Saturday for what the Kremlin called a “tragic incident” over Russia in which an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after Russian air defenses were fired against Ukrainian drones.

An extremely rare public apology from Putin was the closest Moscow has come to accepting some blame for Wednesday's disaster, although the Kremlin's statement did not say Russia shot down the plane, only noting that a criminal investigation had been launched.

Flight J2-8243, en route from Baku to the Chechen capital of Grozny, made an emergency landing near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reportedly attacking several towns. At least 38 people were killed.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of the Azerbaijani investigation told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defenses shot down the airliner by mistake. Passengers reported hearing a loud bang outside the plane.

Putin called President Ilham Aliyev and “apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery,” the Kremlin said.

“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian drones, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks.”

The Kremlin said civilian and military specialists were being questioned.

Putin also telephoned Kassy-Jomart Tokayev, his counterpart in Kazakhstan, to express his condolences over the loss of life in the accident, the Kremlin said.

US President Joe Biden responded to a shouted question on Saturday about whether Putin should take responsibility for the crash as he left a church in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, where he is on vacation.

“Apparently so, but I haven't talked to him or my team,” Biden replied.

The White House said on Friday it had seen initial indications that the plane was likely shot down by Russian air defense systems, adding that Washington had offered to help investigate the crash.

MSNBC cited two unidentified U.S. military sources on Friday as saying there was U.S. intelligence that Russia may have shot down the airliner by mistake after misidentifying it as an incoming drone.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also said he had called Aliyev to express his condolences and, in a statement on the X platform, demanded that Russia provide a “clear explanation”.

OBJECTS BROKEN THROUGH AIRCRAFT

Azerbaijan said Aliyev noted to Putin that the plane was “exposed to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace, which resulted in a complete loss of control and diversion to the Kazakh city of Aktau.”

Until Saturday, Russia's last working day before the long New Year holiday, the Kremlin said it was inappropriate to comment on the incident before an official investigation was concluded.

The Embraer jet was flying from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny in southern Russia's Chechnya, where the incident occurred, before traveling another 280 miles (450 km) across the Caspian Sea, badly damaged.

Footage taken by passengers before the plane crashed showed oxygen masks pulled down and people in life jackets. Later videos showed bloodied and bruised passengers climbing out of the wreckage. 29 people survived.

Baku cited injuries caused by objects that penetrated the fuselage from the outside and the testimony of survivors as evidence of “external physical and technical interference”.

The crash underscored the risks to civilian aviation, even as planes fly hundreds of miles from a war zone, especially as Ukraine has deployed drones en masse to try to strike Russia behind front lines.

Russia uses electronic jamming to disrupt the geolocation and communication systems of Ukrainian drones, which it also targets with air defense systems.

In 2020, Iran's Revolutionary Guards accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 on board.

And in 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 passengers and crew, by what Dutch investigators said was a Russian BUK missile system. Russia has denied involvement.