Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has apologized for the fact that an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed after entering Russian airspace in Grozny, Chechnya on Wednesday, but did not say that Russia was responsible.
Putin said Saturday that Russia’s air defense systems were active when the plane attempted to land in Grozny, according to the Kremlin. Unable to reach the airport, the aircraft diverted east, eventually crashing near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people on board.
It is unconfirmed what was behind the incident, but a US official told CNN on Thursday that early indications suggest a Russian anti-aircraft system may have downed the passenger jet. In his comments, Putin did not say that Russian air defenses hit the plane.
The Kremlin said that the plane “repeatedly attempted to land at the airport in Grozny” but at the same time, the areas of “Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks.”
Russia’s investigative committee has opened a criminal case in relation to the disaster, the statement said.
In a statement on Friday, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Russian media has “lied about the cause of the crash,” adding that Moscow “forced the damaged jet to cross the sea, most likely in an attempt to conceal evidence of their crime.
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