Putin apologized to Aliyev for crash of Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had a telephone conversation at the initiative of the Russian side, the Kremlin press service reports.

According to the report, they discussed in detail issues related to the crash of a passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines on December 25 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

"Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace, and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims, wished a speedy recovery to the injured. In the conversation it was noted that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was following the schedule, repeatedly tried to land at the airport of Grozny. At the same time Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks.

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under Article 263 of the Criminal Code (violation of the rules of safety of air transport movement and operation). Initial investigative actions are under way, civilian and military specialists are being questioned.

Currently, two employees of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan are in Grozny, where they are working together with representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. The specialized services of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are closely cooperating at the site of the crash near Aktau," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Reprinted from news.am