Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the December 25 Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that claimed 38 lives, the Kremlin’s press service reported.

The extremely rare publicised apology from Putin was the closest Moscow had come to accepting some blame for Wednesday's disaster, although the Kremlin statement did not say Russia had shot down the plane.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, on Saturday for what the Kremlin said was a "tragic incident" in Russian airspace.

Secret plant in Russia increases drone production for war against Ukraine The attack targeted a fortified facility used by Russia’s forces for storing, maintaining, and repairing kamikaze drones. According to the General Staff,

Russia's aviation watchdog said the captain of the plane had been offered other airports at which to land, but had chosen Kazakhstan's Aktau.