Putin Apologizes for 'Tragic Incident' in Russian Airspace After Azerbaijan Airlines Crash

russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized on Saturday for the deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Russian airspace, calling it a 'tragic incident.'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, regarding the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. He referred to it as a 'tragic incident' and offered his apologies for the incident occurring in Russian airspace, according to Interfax news agency.

'Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident happening in Russian airspace, and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims, wishing the injured a speedy recovery,' the Kremlin statement read.

On Wednesday, the passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines, en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, resulting in the loss of 38 lives.

For several days, various Western experts have claimed that a Russian air defense attack caused the crash. On Friday, the US, without providing further details, stated that they had evidence pointing to such a missile attack. 'We have seen preliminary indications suggesting the possibility that this plane was shot down by Russian air defense systems,' White House spokesperson John Kirby said.

The Kremlin declined to comment, stating it awaited the results of the investigation by Azerbaijani and Kazakh authorities. The latter have not yet implicated the Russian military.

The Kremlin did mention on Saturday that when the plane attempted to land in Grozny, the capital of the Russian region of Chechnya, Ukrainian drones attacked Russia and Russian air defense forces repelled the attacks.