Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologises to Azeri President

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart after an incident in Russian airspace that led to the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft on December 25, killing dozens.

Putin and Ilham Aliyev discussed details of the doomed flight from Baku to Grozny in a phone call on Saturday, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Embraer SA 190 crashed on Wednesday about 3 kilometres from Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying over the Caspian Sea.

Putin "apologised for the fact that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace," without saying Russia had been at fault, according to the Kremlin readout.

In the Azeri readout, though, Putin was said to have apologised for "physical and technical interference" into the plane.

Neither party clarified what exactly caused the crash as the investigation is ongoing.

The Russian leader also told Aliyev that as the plane was trying to land, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were under fire from Ukrainian combat drones and that Russian air defences were repelling these attacks.

The safety of Russian airspace has been affected by the almost three-year war with Ukraine, as drone attacks become a larger element of Kyiv's arsenal and Moscow responds with anti-missile systems. While Moscow closed many airports in the regions directly bordering Ukraine right after the start of the war in 2022, airports in the Northern Caucasus remain operating - even though the regions have recently become reachable by Ukraianian drones.

Azerbaijan Airlines said on Thursday that the crash of its plane was caused by "external interference."  Some 38 people were killed while 29 survived, some with serious injuries. The airline has suspended most flights to Russia for now.

In its statement, the Azeri president's office said that Aliyev emphasised the presence of numerous holes in the plane's hull and the fact that passengers and crew were injured by foreign particles that penetrated the plane's cabin while still in the air.

He also referenced statements from survivors recounting the flight's final moments.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Aliyev "and expressed condolences to him and the people of Azerbaijan," according to a post on X. "The key priority now is a thorough investigation to provide answers to all questions about what really happened,"  Zelenskiy said.

Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident along with the Azerbaijani prosecutor general's office. A team of international experts have been assembled at the suggestion of Azerbaijan, to investigate the causes, Aliyev said.

Separately, ballistic and explosive examinations have been ordered to investigate the causes of the plane crash near Aktau, Kazakhstan's deputy prime Minister said, according to RIA Novosti.