Putin “Apologizes” For Downed Azerbaijan Airliner

The New York Times reports:

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Saturday apologized for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane this past week, breaking the Kremlin’s three-day silence on the accident that claimed the lives of 38 people. He did not explicitly acknowledge Russia’s responsibility for the crash.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Mr. Putin “offered his apologies” for the crash in a phone call to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev. Mr. Putin told Mr. Aliyev “that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.” The phone call was initiated by the Russian leader, the Kremlin said.

Read the full article.

Russia’s non-apology apology: Putin, in a call with Aliyev, “apologized that the incident occurred in the Russian air space” and blamed it on Ukrainian drones attacking Grozny. No acceptance of responsibility for shooting down the Azerbaijani airliner, at least publicly, and no… pic.twitter.com/QwdVEsgMm3

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) December 28, 2024

Putin apologizes over Azerbaijan Airlines crash, saying air defenses were active at the time, but stops short of admitting responsibility https://t.co/oHKFPn6t9k

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) December 28, 2024