Putin has spoken to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev about the downing of the plane and apologized after the "tragic incident" took place in Russian airspace, but has denied that Russia is responsible.
Putin informed Aliyev that as the plane tried to land in Grozny (the capital of the Russian region of Chechnya), Ukrainian drones were attacking Russia and Russian air defense forces repelled the attacks.
"Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery. At that time, Grozny, Mozdoku and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian drones, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks," the Kremlin said in a statement.
The passenger plane crashed on Wednesday near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several towns.
At least 38 people lost their lives and 29 other passengers survived the air crash, sustaining multiple injuries.
The White House has said early indications are that the plane may have been shot down by Russia, and two U.S. military officials told NBC News that U.S. intelligence has discovered that Russia may have mistakenly identified the plane as a drone and shot it down. .
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told Vladimir Putin that the plane was subject to "external physical and technical interference" in Russian airspace.
His words were the same as those used by Azerbaijan Airlines, which has suspended a number of flights to Russian cities as a result of the incident. (A2 Televizion)
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