MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart Saturday for what he known as a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan which killed 38 folks.
The Kremlin mentioned in a press release that air protection programs fired close to Grozny, the capital of the Russian area of the Republic of Chechnya, attributable to an assault by a Ukrainian drone. as the plane attempted to land on Wednesday. He stopped wanting saying the aircraft was shot down by Russian air defenses.
According to a readout of the Kremlin name, Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the truth that the tragic accident occurred in Russian airspace.”
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The aircraft was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it veered in direction of Kazakhstan and crashed whereas making an attempt to land. There had been 29 survivors.
On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister issued separate statements blaming the incident on an exterior weapon.
Friday’s assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby echoed these made by exterior sources aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air protection programs responding to a Ukrainian assault. Neither Kirby nor the Azerbaijani minister straight addressed the statements blaming the air defenses.
Kirby informed reporters Friday that the United States “has seen some early indications that would definitely level to the chance that this aircraft was shot down by Russian air protection programs,” however he declined to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.
Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital growth and transport, informed Azerbaijani media that “specialists’ preliminary conclusions level to exterior affect,” as do testimonies.
Passengers and crew who survived the crash informed Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft because it flew over Grozny.
Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s Rosaviatsia civil aviation authority, mentioned Friday that because the aircraft ready to land in Grozny in thick fog, Ukrainian drones had been focusing on the town, prompting authorities to shut the realm to air site visitors.
Yadrov mentioned that after the captain made two unsuccessful makes an attempt to land, he was provided different airports however determined to fly to Aktau in Kazakhstan, throughout the Caspian Sea.
He didn’t touch upon statements by some aviation specialists, who identified that holes seen within the tail part of the aircraft counsel it could have come below hearth from Russian air protection programs.
Earlier this week, Rosaviatsia cited unspecified preliminary proof exhibiting that pilots diverted to Aktau after a hen strike triggered an emergency on board.
In the times following the accident, Azerbaijan Airlines alleged “bodily and technical interference” and introduced the suspension of flights to a number of Russian airports. It was not specified the place the interference got here from nor had been any additional particulars offered.
