The Kremlin announced on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the tragic accident involving an Azerbaijani aircraft in Russian airspace last Wednesday.
In a statement published on its official website, the Kremlin detailed that Putin had a phone conversation with Aliyev to discuss the "issues related to the crash of an Azerbaijani Airlines passenger plane on December 25 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan."
The statement added that Putin "apologized for the tragic incident in Russian airspace, expressed his deepest condolences to the victims' families, and wished a swift recovery to the injured."
During the discussion, it was noted that the Azerbaijani passenger plane had attempted to land multiple times at Grozny Airport, while the cities of Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz were under attack by Ukrainian combat drones, with Russian air defense systems actively responding to the threats.