Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for what the Kremlin called a "tragic incident" in which Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 crashed in Kazakhstan's Aktau city on Dec 25.
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00:00Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev
00:10for the December 25th tragic plane crash in Kazakhstan's Aktau city.
00:15A statement on Saturday said Kremlin had taken the initiative to have a telephone conversation
00:20with Aliyev regarding the incident involving Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243.
00:28It said the plane repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport, but at that time Russian
00:32air defense system was repelling attacks by Ukraine's unmanned combat aerial vehicles
00:37in the Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz areas.
00:42It said Putin apologized for what happened in Russian airspace and offered his condolences
00:47to the victims' families.
00:49The apology was the closest Russia had come to accepting some blame for the tragedy.
00:54Russia also said its initial investigation is underway, with the authorities questioning
00:59civilian and military specialists.
01:24Russia said Putin also had phone conversation with Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev,
01:41with both sides agreeing to conduct the investigation in an objective and transparent manner.
01:47In Baku, a 13-year-old Azerbaijani child who perished in the crash was laid to rest.
01:53Muhammad Ali Yegnov was traveling alone on board the plane to visit his mother in Russia.
01:58The flight with 67 people on board took off from Haidar Aliyev International Airport in
02:03Baku at 7.55am for Grozny.
02:07Following reports of a bird strike and several diversions due to bad weather, the plane veered
02:12off course over the Caspian Sea before it crashed on a field about three kilometers
02:17from the Aktau airport at about 11.30am.
02:21Thirty-eight people, including two pilots and a flight attendant, were killed in the
02:25crash while 29 others survived.
02:27Those on board the plane are nationals of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
02:34Media reports said the preliminary investigation revealed that the plane was struck by a missile
02:39system as it approached Grozny.
02:41Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expressed his condolences to Aliyev regarding
02:46the crash and he added that Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation.