Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan over a plane crash that killed 38 people following what investigators believe was an “external impact”.
In a call with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Mr Putin “apologised for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace”, the Kremlin said on Saturday. It said Russian air defences were firing at Ukrainian drones in the area, but did not say they were responsible for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash.
The Embraer-190 aircraft came down in a ball of fire near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday after veering off its course from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to Grozny in the Russian republic of Chechnya. There were 67 passengers and crew on board, of whom 38 died and 29 survivors were injured.
Mr Aliyev said holes in the plane's fuselage, as well as witness testimony and signs of “foreign particles” causing injuries to passengers and crew, suggested the flight was the victim of “external physical and technical interference”. His office likewise stopped short of pointing the finger at Russia.
The European Union's foreign affairs commissioner, Kaja Kallas, said reports that “Russian fire could have caused” the crash were a reminder of the MH17 disaster over Ukraine in 2024. She called for a “swift, independent international investigation”.
In the account relayed by Mr Putin, the plane made repeated attempts to land at Grozny, which at the time was being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, the Kremlin said. It said Russian air defences “repelled these attacks”.
The Russian leader “expressed deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured”, Mr Putin's office said. Mr Aliyev said the plane was able to make an emergency landing “solely due to the courage and professionalism of the pilots”.
Azerbaijani Transport Minister Rashan Nabiyev said on Friday that “preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact”, as did witness testimony. “The type of weapon used in the impact will be determined during the probe,” he told local media.
Crash investigators from Azerbaijan are in Grozny, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office said. Passengers and crew who survived told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises in the aircraft as it circled over Grozny.
Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said that after one noise, the oxygen masks automatically released. She said she went to perform first aid on a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.
Mr Asadov said the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. Shortly afterwards, he suddenly sustained a deep wound to his arm, “as if someone hit me in the arm with an axe”, he said.
Crash survivor Jerova Salihat, speaking to Azerbaijani television from hospital, said “something exploded” near her leg, while Vafa Shabanova said “there were two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground”.
Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said the captain was offered alternative airports after two unsuccessful landing attempts but he decided to fly across the Caspian Sea to Aktau in Kazakhstan.
