Putin apologises to Azerbaijan’s Aliyev over ‘tragic incident’ with plane in Russian airspace

Putin has apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for what he called a “tragic incident” with an Azerbaijani passenger plane.

Putin said Russian air defense systems were firing on Ukrainian drones, but stopped short of saying Russia hit the plane and killed 38.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defences had mistakenly shot it down.

“(President) Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.