Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the primary time on Thursday that his nation was concerned within the 2024 crash of an Azerbaijani passenger airplane, calling it a “tragedy,” reported AFP.
On December 25, the Azerbaijan Airways flight crashed in Kazakhstan, ensuing within the deaths of 38 of the 67 passengers and crew on board. This occurred after it was diverted from its scheduled touchdown within the southern Russian metropolis of Grozny.
In a gathering with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Putin mentioned Russia had deployed two missiles to destroy Ukrainian drones on the morning of the incident, and that they exploded “just a few meters away” from the plane.
“The 2 missiles that have been fired didn’t immediately hit the plane. If that had occurred, it might have crashed on the spot,” Putin mentioned.
Russian air visitors controllers suggested the pilot try a touchdown within the Russian metropolis of Makhachkala, however he as a substitute tried to land at his house airport after which in Kazakhstan, the place the airplane got here down, Putin mentioned.
“Russia will do every part mandatory in such tragic circumstances to offer compensation, and the actions of all officers will likely be legally assessed,” he mentioned.
Aliyev beforehand accused Russia of making an attempt to hide the true reason for the crash.
On Thursday, he thanked Putin for offering “detailed details about the tragedy”, the Kremlin mentioned in a readout.
Preliminary statements by Russia’s air transport company steered that the airplane, an Embraer 190, was compelled to divert after a chicken strike.
Russia’s dealing with of the incident dramatically soured relations with Azerbaijan, an oil-rich post-Soviet state with traditionally shut hyperlinks to Moscow.
