MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he referred to as a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 individuals, however stopped in need of acknowledging that Moscow was accountable.

Putin’s apology got here as allegations mounted that the airplane had been shot down by Russian air defenses trying to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike close to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

An official Kremlin assertion issued Saturday mentioned that air protection methods have been firing close to Grozny airport because the airliner “repeatedly” tried to land there on Wednesday. It didn’t explicitly say one among these hit the airplane.

The assertion mentioned Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the truth that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”

The readout mentioned Russia has launched a prison probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to take part. The Kremlin additionally mentioned that “related companies” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are collectively investigating the crash website close to town of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

The airplane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned towards Kazakhstan, a whole lot of kilometers (miles) throughout the Caspian Sea from its meant vacation spot, and crashed whereas attempting to land. There have been 29 survivors.

The Administration of Mangystau Area by way of AP

Based on a readout of the decision supplied by Aliyev’s press workplace, the Azerbaijani president instructed Putin that the airplane was topic to “exterior bodily and technical interference,” though he additionally stopped in need of blaming Russian air defenses.

Aliyev famous that the airplane had a number of holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained accidents “because of international particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.”

He mentioned {that a} workforce of worldwide consultants had begun probing the incident at Azerbaijan’s initiative, however supplied no particulars. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor Normal’s workplace confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny.

On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an exterior weapon, echoing these made by aviation consultants who blamed the crash on Russian air protection methods responding to a Ukrainian assault.

President Joe Biden, responding on Saturday to a reporter asking whether or not he thought Putin ought to take accountability for the crash, mentioned: “Apparently he did however I haven’t spoken to him.” Biden made the remark after leaving church in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash instructed Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane because it was circling over Grozny.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, mentioned Friday that because the airplane was getting ready to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones have been focusing on town, prompting authorities to shut the world to air site visitors.

Yadrov mentioned that after the captain made two unsuccessful makes an attempt to land, he was provided different airports however determined to fly to Aktau.

Earlier within the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early proof as displaying {that a} hen strike led to an emergency on board.

Within the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airways blamed “bodily and technical interference” and introduced the suspension of flights to a number of Russian airports. It didn’t say the place the interference got here from or present any additional particulars.

If confirmed that the airplane crashed after being hit by Russian fireplace, it might be the second lethal civil aviation accident linked to combating in Ukraine. Malaysia Airways Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 individuals aboard, because it flew over the world in japanese Ukraine managed by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Russia has denied accountability, however a Dutch courtroom in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for his or her function in downing the airplane with an air protection system introduced into Ukraine from a Russian army base.

Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and close by Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airways introduced Friday that it might additionally halt service to eight extra Russian cities.

A number of different airways have made comparable bulletins because the crash. Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air on Friday mentioned it might cease flying from Astana to the Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg within the Ural Mountains for a month.

Turkmenistan Airways, the Central Asian nation’s flagship service, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for a minimum of a month, citing security considerations. Earlier this week, Israel’s El Al service suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.”