Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Russia’s air defense systems were active when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight attempted to land in Grozny, Chechnya on Wednesday.

The Kremlin said Putin had "offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan that resulted in 38 fatalities, according to the Kremlin.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation told Reuters that Russian air defences mistakenly shot it down.

President Ilham Aliyev, an ally of president Vladimir Putin, has accused the Russian regime of trying to cover up a plane crash which killed 38 people on Christmas Day

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan's leader for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. Putin stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.

Two U.S. military officials told NBC News that they had intelligence indicating that Russians may have misidentified the plane and shot it down.

Russian president says the airliner was attempting to land in Grozny amid Ukrainian drone attacks in the area.

The Russian president has apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" - but stopped short of taking responsibility.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he apologized after the Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed over Grozny, Chechnya, killing 38 people and injuring 29 others in southern Russia on Christmas Day.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the “tragic” Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people on board, but stopped short of admitting any responsibility for the incident.