Russian Prez Putin apologises to Azerbaijan’s Aliyev for ‘tragic’ plane crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev following the downing of a commercial plane in Russian airspace that killed 38 people. However, Mr. Putin stopped short of acknowledging Russia’s responsibility for the incident.

After a phone call between Mr. Putin and Mr. Aliyev, the Kremlin said the Russian President described it as a tragic incident occurring while Russian air defence systems were actively repelling Ukrainian drone attacks. Earlier, some media outlets reported that the plane, targeted by Russian air defence systems as it attempted to land in Chechnya, was forced to divert over the Caspian Sea. It crash-landed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 passengers on board.