Russia's leader apologises for the downing of an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace - without directly taking blame.

Putin apologized for the “tragic incident” that occurred in Russian airspace, but the Kremlin did not take responsibility for downing the Azerbaijan Airlines flight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane destined for Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day. In his first comments since the crash that killed 38 out of the 67 people on board,

Azerbaijan Airlines suspended more than half of its Russian schedule over safety concerns after a plane headed to Grozny this week was reportedly damaged by Russian air-defense systems before crashing as it attempted to land in Kazakhstan.

An Azerbaijani minister suggested Friday that an airliner that crashed this week was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor testimony indicating that the plane was struck from the outside.

An Azerbaijan MP has blamed Russia for shooting down the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, describing the situation as "impossible to deny." The plane crash, which killed 38 people, was first reported on December 25,

Aviation experts say that Russian air defense fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured.