Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane in Kazakhstan with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev over the phone, world agencies reported, citing the Kremlin press service.
“Issues related to the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane on December 25 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan were discussed in detail“, the press service said in a statement, quoted by TASS.
The telephone conversation between the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan was held at the initiative of the Russian side, the Kremlin press service also said.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace, and more once offered his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured“, the Kremlin said.
The press service said that officers of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation are working together with their Azerbaijani colleagues on the investigation of the plane crash near Aktau, and two officers of the Azerbaijani prosecutor's office are on the ground in Grozny.
In the conversation between Putin and Ilham Aliyev, it was noted that the Azerbaijani plane had tried to land in Grozny during a Ukrainian drone attack, against which Russian air defenses were active.
“In the conversation, it was noted that the Azerbaijani passenger plane, which was performing a clearly planned flight, had repeatedly tried to land at the Grozny airport. At the same time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, and Russian air defenses repelled these attacks,“ the Kremlin statement said.