{"id":2384250,"date":"2024-12-28T13:46:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T18:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/putin-apologizes-for-tragic-incident-but-stops-short-of-saying-azerbaijani-plane-was-shot-down-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-12-28T13:48:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T18:48:00","slug":"putin-apologizes-for-tragic-incident-but-stops-short-of-saying-azerbaijani-plane-was-shot-down-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/putin-apologizes-for-tragic-incident-but-stops-short-of-saying-azerbaijani-plane-was-shot-down-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin apologizes for \u2018tragic incident\u2019 but stops short of saying Azerbaijani plane was shot down &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fputin-apologizes-for-tragic-incident-but-stops-short-of-saying-azerbaijani-plane-was-shot-down-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2384250&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Russian\u200d President Vladimir Putin has issued an apology to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for a &#8220;tragic incident&#8221;\u2064 involving the\u2064 crash \u200bof an Azerbaijani\u200b airliner\u200d in Kazakhstan, which resulted in 38 fatalities.While Putin expressed sorrow for the \u2064incident, he did \u200bnot explicitly accept responsibility \u200camid mounting allegations that the \u200bplane may have been\u2064 shot down by Russian air \u200bdefenses during\u200b attempts to intercept a Ukrainian drone\u2064 strike near Grozny, Chechnya.The Kremlin stated that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/putin-issues-dire-warning-as-us-cluster-bombs-are-delivered-to-ukraine\/\" title=\"Putin warns as US delivers cluster bombs to Ukraine.\">air defense\u2062 systems<\/a> were engaged near Grozny Airport while the airliner repeatedly attempted to land but stopped short of confirming that one of\u200d these systems downed the\u200b plane.<\/p>\n<p>In a call with President Aliyev, Putin expressed regret, acknowledging the incident occured in Russian airspace. Both countries, alongside Kazakhstan, are conducting a joint examination into the crash\u200d site. Aliyev indicated to Putin that the aircraft showed signs of\u200c external interference, including holes in \u200bits fuselage and injuries to passengers from foreign\u2062 objects \u2063during flight. There were \u200d29 survivors from the incident, which involved a flight from Baku\u2063 to Grozny that diverted towards Kazakhstan before crashing.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Putin apologizes for &lsquo;tragic incident&rsquo; but stops short of saying Azerbaijani plane was shot down<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1922566\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>MOSCOW (AP) &mdash;<\/strong> Russian President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Vladimir-Putin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Vladimir Putin<\/a> on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a &ldquo;tragic incident&rdquo; following&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/things-to-know-about-azerbaijan-airlines-crash-1e3ca32f895b577755b5776806e1eda7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner<\/a>&nbsp;in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Putin&rsquo;s apology came as allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.<\/p>\n<p>An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/azerbaijan-airliner-crash-kazakhstan-aktau-a655474030a347a5a7ddda3a77bbeddc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">as the airliner &ldquo;repeatedly&rdquo; attempted to land there<\/a>&nbsp;on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3253109\/republicans-clash-trump-2025-budget-reconciliation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>REPUBLICANS CLASH OVER HOW TO PASS TRUMP 2025 AGENDA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev &ldquo;for the fact that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-teenage-boy-allegedly-kills-9-in-school-shooting-in-serbia\/\" title=\"Teen boy reportedly kills 9 in Serbia school shooting.\">tragic incident occurred<\/a> in Russian airspace.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that &ldquo;relevant services&rdquo; from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<p>The plane was flying from Azerbaijan&rsquo;s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.<\/p>\n<p>According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev&rsquo;s press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to &ldquo;external physical and technical interference,&rdquo; although he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses.<\/p>\n<p>Aliyev noted that the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries &ldquo;due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3251760\/biden-gambles-preemptive-pardons-shield-democrats-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>BIDEN GAMBLES WITH PREEMPTIVE PARDONS TO SHIELD DEMOCRATS FROM TRUMP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He said that a team of international experts had begun probing the incident at Azerbaijan&rsquo;s initiative, but provided no details. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General&rsquo;s office confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/azerbaijan-airliner-crash-aktau-kazakstan-embraer-872800d95273ee96e0950192a32e5228\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">aviation experts<\/a>&nbsp;who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.<\/p>\n<p>Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.<\/p>\n<p>Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia&rsquo;s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board.<\/p>\n<p>In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed &ldquo;physical and technical interference&rdquo; and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn&rsquo;t say where the interference came from or provide any further details.<\/p>\n<p>If proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian fire, it would be the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/32f3573b66584b46a7dec4236d315f55\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">second deadly civil aviation accident<\/a>&nbsp;linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Russia has denied responsibility, but a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-business-kuala-lumpur-malaysia-netherlands-099084a82b49b77b116878e24fc63a18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Dutch court in 2022<\/a>&nbsp;convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">air defense system brought<\/a> into Ukraine from a Russian military base.<\/p>\n<p>Following Wednesday&rsquo;s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and nearby Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Several other airlines have made similar announcements since the crash. Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Qazaq Air on Friday said it would stop flying from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month.<\/p>\n<p>Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian country&rsquo;s flagship carrier, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for at least a month, citing safety concerns. Earlier this week, Israel&rsquo;s El Al carrier suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing &ldquo;developments in Russia&rsquo;s airspace.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1922566\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1922566\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Putin expresses regret over a &#8220;tragic incident&#8221; but avoids admitting responsibility for the downed Azerbaijani plane<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2634,"featured_media":2384251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/azerbaijan-plane.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[5447,39845,42124,3733,32076],"class_list":["post-2384250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-apology","tag-azerbaijan","tag-plane-incident","tag-putin","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/azerbaijan-plane.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2384250"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2384254,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384250\/revisions\/2384254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2384251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2384250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2384250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2384250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}