President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told the Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, in a phone call, “that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.”

The Kremlin has said that the Russian president "apologized for the tragic incident" and expressed his "deep and sincere condolences" to the victims' families.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the plane crash in Russian air space on Christmas Day that left 38 people dead in a statement that said Russia was targeting Ukrainian drones over the plane’s planned destination at the time, but stopped short of taking responsibility.

Some 38 people were killed in the crash, which saw an Azerbaijani airliner brought down over Kazakhstan on December 25.

Azerbaijan says the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries ‘due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight’

Russia's leader apologises for the downing of an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace - without directly taking blame.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.

Several aviation experts said they believe that a Russian defense system caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people on Christmas Day, according to the Associated Press. The flight was headed from Baku,

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following a plane crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. The Azerbaijani plane was flying on Wednesday from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to Grozny,