In a telephone conversation, Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the “tragic incident” involving an Azerbaijani plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
Vladimir Putin apologized to Ilham Aliyev as the accident occurred in Russian airspace, Reuters quoted the Russian leader as saying.
President Azerbaijan allegedly told Putin that the plane was subjected to external physical and technical influence while in Russian airspace, Reuters reported.
The site of the crash of a passenger plane near the city of Aktau in KazakhstanPAP/EPA
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny in Chechnya in the southern Russian Federation on Wednesday when it veered off route and crashed in Kazakhstan. Most of the passengers on the Embraer-190 plane were Azerbaijani citizens. There were also 16 Russians and several Kazakh citizens on board Kyrgyzstan. 38 people died in the disaster, 29 survived.
Zelensky: Russia must provide explanations
Volodymyr Zelensky also had a telephone conversation with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, on Saturday. President Ukraine he expressed his condolences to the interlocutor and his nation and recognized the heroism of the pilots and crew of the plane.
“The Russian authorities must provide explanations regarding Wednesday's crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan,” the president of Ukraine called on Saturday on the X website.
“Russia must provide explanations and stop spreading disinformation. Photos and videos clearly show damage to the aircraft's fuselage, including punctures and dents, which clearly indicate an air defense missile impact,” Zelensky wrote.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA