• EU urges ‘swift, independent’ probe into the incident
• US points to Russian anti-aircraft missile as likely cause

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Azerbaijan’s leader for what the Kremlin called a “tragic incident” over Russia in which an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after Russian air defences were fired against Ukrainian drones.

The extremely rare publicised apology from Putin was the closest Moscow had come to accepting some blame for Wednesday’s disaster, although the Kremlin statement did not say Russia had shot down the plane, only noting that a criminal case had been opened.

Flight J2-8243, en route from Baku to the Chechen capital Grozny, crash-landed on Wednesday near Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defences had mistakenly shot the airliner down. Passengers said they heard a loud bang outside the plane.

Putin called President Ilham Aliyev and “apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said.

“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks.”

The Kremlin said “civilian and military specialists” were being questioned.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said he had called Aliyev to offer condolences, and in his statement on the X platform demanded that Russia provide “clear explanations”.

Azerbaijan for its part said Aliyev had noted to Putin that the plane had been “subjected to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control and redirection to the Kazakh city of Aktau”.

Until Saturday, Russia’s last working day before a long New Year holiday, the Kremlin had said it was improper to comment on the incident before official investigations were concluded.

‘Swift, independent’ investigation

Meanwhile, the European Union’s top diplomat on Saturday called for a “swift, independent” probe into the Azerbaijan Airlines crash, after the US suggested the incident may have been caused by a Russian anti-aircraft missile.

“I call for a swift, independent international investigation,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, wrote on social media platform X.

She said the incident was a “stark reminder” of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by Russia-backed rebels over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

“Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims. I wish for a speedy recovery to the injured,” Kallas said.

Statements by Azerbaijani officials suggest Baku believes the plane was hit mid-air, while the US has said it had “early indications” Russian air defence may have been responsible for the crash.

Russia has previously said that Grozny was being attacked by Ukrainian drones that day.

The Embraer jet had flown from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s southern Chechnya region, where the incident occurred, and then travelled, badly damaged, another 450 kilo­metres across the Caspian Sea.

Footage shot by passengers before the plane crashed showed oxygen masks down and people wearing life jackets.

Later videos showed bloodied and bruised passengers climbing out of the wreckage. There were 29 survivors.

Baku cited injuries from objects that had penetrated the aircrafts fuselage from outside and testimonies from survivors as evidence of “external physical and technical interference”.

The crash underscored the risks to civil aviation even when aircraft are flying hundreds of miles from a war zone, especially when Ukraine has deployed drones en masse to try to hit back at Russia behind the front lines.

Russia uses electronic jamming to confuse the geolocation and communication systems of Ukrainian drones, which it also targets with air defence systems.

In 2020, Iranian Revolutionary Guards mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 on board.

And in 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, with the loss of 298 passengers and crew, by what Dutch investigators said was a Russian BUK missile system. Russia denied involvement.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2024