After the Azerbaijani airline crash in Kazakhstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
The Kremlin has termed the incident as 'tragic' in Russian airspace. The plane was flying on Wednesday from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while attempting to land.
As many as 38 people were killed in the incident and there were 29 survivors.
In an official statement, Russia said its air defence systems were firing near Grozny, where the aircraft attempted to land, due to a Ukrainian drone strike.
"During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin said Putin told Aliyev.
Russia, however, did not mention that its air defence system hit the plane. Earlier there were reports blaming the crash on an external weapon.
During the phone call with Putin, Azerbaijan's president emphasised that "Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control."
Multiple holes were spotted in the aircraft's fuselage and injuries to the passengers and crew were due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight, he added.
The assessments carried out by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby blamed Russian air defence systems behind the crash.
Nabiyev, Azerbaijan's minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact, as does witness testimony.
Survivors recalled the crash and told media that they heard loud noises outside the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.
