Putin Apologizes After Airliner Shot Down, Stops Short Of Taking Responsibility

Russian President Vladimir Putin “apologized” on Saturday to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Russian airspace this week, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin acknowledged what officials had alleged shortly after the flight crashed, that Russia “repeatedly” denied the plane permission to land at Grozny Airport.

“At that time, Ukrainian unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) attacked Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz, and Russian air defence systems were repelling these attacks,” Russia claimed.

The Kremlin said that the Russian Investigative Committee initiated a criminal investigation over the incident in which they are questioning civilian and military personnel.

Putin stopped short of taking responsibility for the airline being shot down.

Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement that the Embraer 190 aircraft crashed on Christmas because of “physical and technical external interference.”

The company suspended flights to several Russian cities following the crash due to safety risks.

“The bodies of passengers and crew members who lost their lives in the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft near Aktau, Kazakhstan, will be delivered to Azerbaijan in the near future,” the country said in a joint statement with the airline.

Of the 62 passengers and 5 crew members on board, 38 were killed and the rest were injured, many of whom are listed in critical condition.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that there were “some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.”

“That said, there’s an ongoing investigation right now,” he added. “Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are conducting this jointly. We have offered our assistance to that investigation.”

Rasim Musabayov, a member of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan, said on Friday that the evidence pointing to Russia shooting down the plane was overwhelming.

“If someone thinks that we are allies with Russia and therefore we would close our eyes on everything, then they are mistaken,” he told The New York Times. “There aren’t that many countries that are on good terms with Russia now,” he added. “If Moscow doesn’t make the right steps in this situation the list might get shorter.”

He also demanded that Russia explain why the plane diverted out of Russian air space and was not allowed to land.

Sources familiar with the investigation told The Wall Street Journal that Russia not only refused to allow the plane to land on its soil, it intentionally jammed the plane’s GPS.

A local Azerbaijani publication said that the plane was redirected to land in the Kazakh city of Aktau.

“It can be assumed that this recommendation was given with one goal: to have the aircraft crash into the Caspian Sea, where all witnesses would perish and the aircraft would sink,” the publication said.

Because the plane had been targeted with GPS jammers, it stopped sending radar information about its location, which would have made it difficult to find had it crashed in the Caspian Sea.