On Saturday, December 28, the Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that Russia’s air defense systems were active when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane attempted to land in Grozny before crashing. This marked the Kremlin’s first acknowledgment amid growing speculation that the plane may have been accidentally shot down by Russian forces.
Putin called his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, apologising that the incident took place in Russian airspace while stopping short of saying Russian air defence shot the plane.
Aliyev had emphasised to Putin that the plane was hit by outside interference from Russia, saying it wanted those responsible held accountable.
The phone call between the allies came three days after the Embraer 190 plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed in Kazakhstan.
Recall that the crash killed 38 people of the 67 onboard.
Meanwhile, western experts have pointed fingers at Russia, while the US said it had early indications the plane was shot.
Putin told Aliyev that the plane had tried to land in Grozny several times.
“During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks,” Putin said.
However, Aliyev appeared in no doubt that the plane was shot at over Russia.
Baku’s presidency in a statement said President Ilham Aliyev emphasised that the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control.
According to the statement, Aliyev highlighted that the multiple holes in the aircraft’s fuselage, injuries sustained by passengers and crew due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight, and testimonies from surviving flight attendants and passengers confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference.
Meanwhile, Russian officials had earlier said that Ukrainian drones were attacking Grozny that day.
But Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he also spoke to Aliyev on Saturday, stressing that the footage of the plane makes it look very much like an air defence missile strike.
“The key priority now is a thorough investigation that will answer all questions about what really happened. Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation,”
Zelensky said.
