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."

The Kremlin has said that Putin "apologized for the tragic incident" and expressed his "deep and sincere condolences" the the victims' families.

Vladimir Putin has apologised for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash but stopped short of accepting responsibility for what he described as a “tragic incident”.

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 has offered a carefully worded apology for the downed Azerbaijan Airlines plane which crashed on Christmas Day.

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

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

Vladimir Putin admitted Saturday Russian air defence was working when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing, breaking the Kremlin's silence as speculation mounted Russia may have accidentally shot the plane.

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.

The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, but a U.S. official has preliminarily suggested that a Russian anti-aircraft system might have shot down the plane.