Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov

i24 News – Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for what he said represented a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.

Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.

“Vladimir Putin apologized 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.

“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.