A drone presumption shows exigency specialists moving astatine the clang tract of an Azerbaijan Airlines rider level adjacent the metropolis of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024.
Azamat Sarsenbayev | Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the president of Azerbaijan for the crash of the civilian airliner that killed 38 people, the Kremlin said Saturday, stopping abbreviated of admitting responsibility.
"Vladimir Putin apologized for the information that the tragic incidental occurred successful Russian airspace," the Kremlin said.
The airliner had "repeatedly attempted to land" astatine the Grozny airport, Putin told Ilham Aliyev, which astatine the clip was being "attacked by Ukrainian combat drones."
Russian aerial defence systems "repelled these attacks," Putin said.
He did not accidental if the level was deed by Russian aerial defenses but the Kremlin said that an probe was underway and civilian and subject specialists were being interrogated.
The Azerbaijan Airlines level crash-landed adjacent the metropolis of Aktau successful Kazakhstan connected Christmas day, killing 38 of the 67 radical connected board.
According to a readout by Aliyev's office, the Azerbaijan president told Putin of the grounds suggesting "external carnal and method interference," specifying that it happened successful Russian airspace.
Aliyev mentioned aggregate holes successful the airplane's fuselage, injuries sustained by passengers and unit "due to overseas particles penetrating the compartment mid-flight," and testimonies from surviving passengers and crew, immoderate of whom had said they felt explosions before the level went down.
Two U.S. subject officials told NBC News connected Friday that the level whitethorn person been deed by Russian missiles, saying they had quality indicating that Russians whitethorn person misidentified the level and changeable it down.
The quality suggested that Russians believed the airliner was a drone, partially due to the fact that of an irregular formation pattern, the officials said.
The Embraer 190 experienced "physical and method outer interference," the bearer said Friday, portion the level was en way from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to Grozny, the superior of Russia's Chechnya region.
Russian officials person cautioned against speculating astir the origin of the crash, and connected Saturday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was "waiting connected the results of the investigation."
However, the country's aviation ministry, Rosaviatsia, said earlier that the concern astir the destination airport, Grozny, was "very complicated," with Ukrainian drones successful the vicinity.
Rosaviatsia besides said determination was a dense fog and nary visibility astatine an altitude of 1,600 feet, and the aviator yet chose to divert aft 2 unsuccessful attempts to onshore astatine Grozny.
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