Putin offers apology to Azerbaijan's president over "tragic plane incident" in Russian airspace but does not admit Russia's guilt

During a telephone conversation with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, Russian leader Vladimir Putin has apologised for the fact that a "tragic incident" involving an Azerbaijan Airlines plane occurred in Russian airspace, but did not admit Russia’s guilt.

Source: Kremlin website

Quote: "Vladimir Putin apologised for the fact that the incident happened in Russian airspace, once again offered deep and sincere condolences to the victims’ families and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. It was noted during the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger airliner was flying according to schedule and repeatedly tried to land at Grozny Airport.

At that time, Ukrainian unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) attacked Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz, and Russian air defence systems were repelling these attacks."

Details: The Kremlin said two officials from Azerbaijan's General Prosecutor's Office were in Grozny working alongside representatives from Russia's General Prosecutor's Office and Investigative Committee.

"Relevant services of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are working closely at the crash site near the city of Aktau," the Russians claimed.

Why this is important: Putin did not acknowledge that Russian air defences had shot down the plane. He merely offered an apology for the fact that the "incident" occurred in Russian airspace.

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