Leaders of Russia and Kazakhstan address Azerbaijan Airlines crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke on Saturday about the investigation into this week’s deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight near the Kazakh city of Aktau, according to the Kazakh presidency.

The phone call, initiated by Russia, saw both leaders exchanging condolences over the tragedy. Tokayev informed Putin that a government commission, joined by experts from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Brazil, has been set up to investigate the crash. Both leaders underlined the necessity of maintaining transparency throughout the process.

The crash occurred on Wednesday when a flight traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic, went down near Aktau. The incident resulted in 38 fatalities, with 29 survivors.

Azerbaijani officials have linked the crash to Russian missile systems, citing the Russian military’s ongoing air defense operations in the region as a potential factor. Russian President Putin confirmed on Saturday that air defenses were engaged in countering a Ukrainian drone attack at the time. GPS jamming had also been detected in the area, compounding concerns about the crash’s circumstances.

Authorities from all involved nations, including Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, have launched investigations and urged the public to await official conclusions before making assumptions.

Earlier on Saturday, Putin offered condolences to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and apologized for the incident, noting that the flight attempted to land in Grozny before the crash.