WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner earlier this week near Aktau, Kazakhstan.
The crash killed 38 passengers.
Putin said Russian air defense systems were repelling an alleged Ukrainian drone attack, but did not directly say that a missile had brought down the plane.
The plane crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan.
The plane was scheduled to land in Grozny, Chechnya, before being diverted over the Caspian Sea.
Azerbaijani lawmaker Hikmat Babaoglu told Radio Free Europe on December 27 that there was a "very strong" possibility that the plane was damaged by a Russian air defense missile.
He said that "observations and conclusions so far support the idea that the plane was shot down."
On the same day, White House spokesman John Kirby said that US experts "have early indications that the plane was shot down by a Russian anti-aircraft system."
The evidence includes footage from the plane before the crash, images of the damaged tail section after the crash, statements from survivors and allegations of a drone attack as the plane attempted to land in Grozny.
Reuters, citing a source familiar with the investigation, reported that the results showed that the plane was hit by the Pantsir-S system - a Russian self-propelled anti-aircraft and missile system.
The crash disrupted air traffic in the Caucasus and beyond, and the Azerbaijani airline temporarily suspended flights to several Russian cities.
An Azerbaijan Airlines plane bound for the Russian spa town of Mineralnye Vody, near Grozny, took off from Baku on December 27, but turned back abruptly after receiving a notification that Russian airspace through which it was to pass had been closed.
Azerbaijan Airlines later announced that it was suspending flights to several Russian cities, including Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny and Makhachkala.
Turkmenistan Airlines announced on December 28 that it was canceling all flights between the capital Ashgabat and Moscow from December 30 to January 31, without giving a reason for the decision.
Turkmenistan borders Kazakhstan on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.
Also on December 28, Russia's aviation authority Rosaviatsia announced that temporary restrictions had been imposed on the operation of the airport in the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan, to ensure flight safety, and media reports said that all departures and arrivals had been suspended.
Flights to Kazan from the Siberian cities of Tomsk, Surgut and Kemerovo were being diverted to the airport in Nizhnekamsk, Russia's state news agency TASS reported, citing the airport's public relations department.
No specific reason was given for these measures, which, according to Rosaviatsia, were lifted a few hours later.
Russia has occasionally closed airports due to alleged drone attacks.
