Azerbaijan plane crash: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologises to Azerbaijani leader for ‘tragic incident’

A drone view shows emergency specialists working at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday (December 28, 2024) apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people.

The plane was flying on Wednesday (December 25, 2024) from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.

In an official statement Saturday (December 28, 2024), the Kremlin said air defence systems were firing near Grozny on Wednesday due to a Ukrainian drone strike, but stopped short of saying one of these hit the plane.

According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”

On Friday (December 27, 21024), a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani Minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon.

Friday’s assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.

Neither Kirby or the Azerbaijani minister directly addressed the statements blaming air defenses.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.