Moscow: Preliminary investigation suggested that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash on Christmas Day was the result of being caught in the crossfire of the Russia-Ukraine war.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to the Azerbaijan President for a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft that crashed after air defences were used against Ukrainian drones, reported Reuters.
Flight J2-8243, which was flying from Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in Russia, was diverted from southern Russia as Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. As the passenger plane came into that space, Russian air defences shot it down mistaking it for a Ukrainian drone.
The plane crashed in a ball of fire near Aktau in Kazakhstan. At least 38 people of the 67 people on board were killed.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by unmanned Ukrainian aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks,” Kremlin said. The Russian response against Ukrainian offensive was ordered by Putin.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said earlier that the plane had been “subjected to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control and redirection to the Kazakh city of Aktau.”
