Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane earlier this week. The incident resulted in the deaths of at least 38 people, while 29 others survived.
In a statement, the Kremlin reported that Putin expressed his condolences for the tragic event. He informed Aliyev that the plane had attempted to land at Grozny Airport, which was under attack by Ukrainian forces at the time.
“President Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims. He also wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin stated.
During the conversation, it was highlighted that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was operating on a scheduled flight, had made multiple attempts to land at Grozny Airport. At that moment, Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz were being targeted by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems were actively repelling these attacks.
Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a fireball near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones had been reported attacking multiple cities.
In response to the crash, several airlines have announced the suspension of flights to Russian cities, especially after Western experts and U.S. officials suggested that the incident might have been caused by a Russian anti-aircraft missile.