Putin apologizes to Azerbaijani leader for 'tragic incident' involving crashed plane
Source: NPR/AP
Updated December 28, 2024 9:35 AM ET
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people.
The Kremlin said in a statement that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, due to a Ukrainian drone strike as the plane attempted to land on Wednesday. It stopped short of saying the plane was shot down by Russian air defenses.
According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace." The plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to Grozny, when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon. Friday's assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack. Neither Kirby or the Azerbaijani minister directly addressed the statements blaming air defenses.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2024/12/28/nx-s1-5241758/azerbaijani-plane-crash-putin-apologizes
= new reply since forum marked as read
That's a first, I think. pooty apologizing for anything?
