Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an apology on Saturday to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for a "tragic incident" following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that claimed 38 lives.
The Kremlin reported that air defense systems were activated near Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, in response to a Ukrainian drone strike as the plane attempted to land on Wednesday. However, they did not confirm that the aircraft was shot down by Russian defenses.
In a phone call, Putin expressed condolences to Aliyev, acknowledging that the incident occurred in Russian airspace. The plane was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny when it diverted toward Kazakhstan and crashed while trying to land. There were 29 survivors from the flight.
Statements from a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister on Friday attributed the crash to an external weapon. These remarks aligned with assessments from aviation experts, who suggested that Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack may have been involved.