Vladimir Putin acknowledged that the Russian Air Force was responsible for shooting down an Azerbaijani jetliner last year. 38 people were killed in the jetliner. Earlier, Putin had apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart after an Azerbaijani plane crashed in Kazakhstan, but stopped short of admitting that Moscow was responsible. Putin’s apology came as allegations surfaced that the plane was shot down by Russian air defense in an attempt to foil a Ukrainian drone attack near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic Chechnya. An earlier official Kremlin statement said air defense systems near Grozny airport were firing as the plane repeatedly attempted to land there. However, it did not clearly say whether any of these hit the plane.
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The Kremlin’s official statement said Putin had apologized to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace. It is noteworthy that the plane was flying from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, when it turned towards Kazakhstan across the Caspian Sea, hundreds of kilometers from its scheduled destination, and crashed while trying to land. 29 people survived. According to call details provided by Aliyev’s press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was a victim of external physical and technical interference, although he also avoided blaming the Russian air defense system.