Putin Calls for “Objective and Transparent” Investigation into Azerbaijani Plane Crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Saturday, called for an “objective and transparent” investigation into the cause of the Azerbaijani plane crash in Kazakhstan, which Western experts and Washington believe may have been caused by a Russian anti-aircraft missile strike.

Putin told Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a phone call, according to the Kremlin’s statement: “The Kazakh government commission tasked with investigating all the details of the incident will invite Russian, Azerbaijani, and Brazilian experts. This work, which will take place on Kazakh territory, will be objective and transparent,” according to Agence France-Presse.

The Russian president apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for what the Kremlin called a “tragic incident” involving an Azerbaijani Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25.

The Kremlin said that while the plane was attempting to land in Grozny, Chechnya, Ukrainian drones were attacking Russia, and Russian air defense forces intercepted the attacks.

The Azerbaijani Airlines Embraer 190 aircraft crashed in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday while en route from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. The crash resulted in the deaths of 38 people out of the 67 passengers on board.

Experts and media reports have suggested that the cause of the crash may have been a strike from a Russian surface-to-air missile. On Friday, Washington also hinted at this possibility.