"Tragic incident"

Putin apologizes for plane crash

(Bild: AP/The Administration of Mangystau Region)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized for the "tragic incident" of the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane and explained that the Russian air defenses had reacted to a Ukrainian drone attack.

The Russian ruler apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for the drama surrounding the Azerbaijani passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on 25 December, killing 38 people. "Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace," the Kremlin said after a telephone conversation between the two. 

The tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace ...(Bild: AP/The Administration of Mangystau Region)

... Putin regrets this.(Bild: APA/AFP/Alexander NEMENOV)

Ukrainian drones had attacked Grozny on Wednesday, when the passenger plane was also en route, the statement said. Russian air defenses had been active to fend off the hostile flying objects. However, it was not directly mentioned that one of the Russian systems had hit the plane.

Moscow already mentioned drone attack on Friday
Russia had already confirmed the temporal connection with a drone attack by Ukraine the day before. "The situation on that day and during those hours in the Grozny airport area was very complicated," said the head of the Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya, Dmitry Yadrov, on Friday. According to him, the plane was unable to land at its destination in Grozny for security reasons. According to Yadrov, no take-offs and landings were permitted in Grozny due to the danger posed by the drones.

Yadrov also did not comment on whether the plane was possibly damaged by the use of a Russian anti-aircraft missile and then crashed after a long flight in Kazakhstan.