Putin offers apologies and expresses condolences over Aktau plane crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a phone call to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Kremlin press service reported.

Putin apologized for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane in Kazakhstan. The Russian President once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks.

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

At present, employees from the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan are in Chechnya, working jointly with representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Specialised services from three countries are closely cooperating at the crash site.