Russian defense confronted the Ukrainian drones' said the Kremlin after an Azerbaijani plane was hit

Follow-up - INA

The press office of the Russian presidency (the Kremlin) announced today, Saturday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev confirmed during a telephone conversation between them that the ill-fated Azerbaijan Airlines plane "Azal" tried several times to land at Grozny Airport in the Russian Chechen Republic.

“During the conversation (between Putin and Aliyev), it was confirmed that the Azerbaijani passenger plane, which was following a schedule, tried several times to land at the airport in Grozny (the capital of the Chechen Republic). At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian drones. The Russian air defense system was working to repel these attacks,” the Kremlin
said in a statement. “The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case under Article 263 of the Criminal Code (violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport), preliminary investigation procedures are underway, and civilian and military specialists are being questioned,” the Kremlin press service said, citing a telephone conversation between Putin and Aliyev.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, en route from Baku to Grozny in the Russian republic of Chechnya, crashed on the morning of December 25 near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan.

According to preliminary data from the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, the pilot decided to fly to an alternative airport in Aktau, citing a bird strike.

62 passengers and five crew members were on board, according to the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry, 29 people survived, including nine Russian citizens.