Putin APOLOGISES to Azerbaijan over ‘tragic incident’ as Russian president admits ‘air defence was active when plane crashed’

Vladimir Putin has apologised for the “tragic” Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, admitting that “air defence was active” when the plane was taken down.

The Kremlin dictator called Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev to say sorry, though stopped short of saying Russia was responsible.

The aircraft went down in Kazakhstan – in Russian airspace – with 38 people dying and 29 survivors being left with injuries.

Flight J2-8243 came down near the city of Aktau after diverting from its scheduled route from Baku to Grozny.

The aircraft had strayed hundreds of miles off course, crossing the Caspian Sea before crashing in a fireball that was captured on video by horrified onlookers.

In a statement, the Kremlin said: “Vladimir Putin apologised for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in the Russian airspace, and once again expressed deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims, [and] wished a speedy recovery to the injured.”

The Kremlin said the call took place at Putin’s request.

Discussing the phone call, the Kremlin said: “A detailed discussion was held regarding the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane on 25 December near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

“Vladimir Putin expressed his apologies for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.

“He once again extended his deepest and most sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.

“During the conversation, it was noted that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was strictly following its scheduled route, had made several attempts to land at the airport in Grozny.

“‘At the time, Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz were under attack by Ukrainian combat drones, and Russian air defence systems were repelling these assaults.”

Prior to its statement today, the Kremlin had not yet commented on the crash.

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

More to follow…