Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday by phone for the downing of a commercial airliner Wednesday in Russian airspace. Thirty-eight people perished in the tragedy.

However, the Russian president refused to take responsibility for the “tragic incident,” which is believed to have occurred when the aircraft came under fire from Russian air defenses as it tried to land in the Russian region of Chechnya. Instead, it was forced to divert across the Caspian Sea.

The Kremlin issued a statement:

"(President) Vladimir Putin apologised that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured," it said.

In the rare publicised apology, Putin also acknowledged the plane had repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya.

At the time, the cities of Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were "being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks", he said.

The Kremlin read-out made no direct admission that the plane had been struck by Russian missiles.

Tragedy: Azerbaijan Plane Crash Investigation Raises More Questions Than It Answers

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Warning: Disturbing footage:

Putin issues apology to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, for what the Kremlin said was a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25.

Putin has told Aliyev that Russian air defense was active when an… pic.twitter.com/W6GlGolGLP

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) December 28, 2024

From the above tweet: 

Putin has told Aliyev that Russian air defense was active when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before it crashed. 

“During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defense was repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin says Putin told Aliyev, without explicitly acknowledging that that Russian air defenses hit the plane.

Source: Times of Israel

There is plenty of evidence that the plane was shot down, but a formal conclusion has not yet been made.

Video and images of the plane after it crashed show perforations in its body that look similar to damage from shrapnel or debris. The cause of these holes has not been confirmed.

CNN aviation analyst Miles O’Brien explained Thursday that the fact that the metal around the holes is bent inwards shows that there was “an explosion in proximity to the tail of that aircraft.”

The US official that spoke to CNN also said that the holes on the side of the aircraft are consistent with shrapnel damage from an explosion.

Biden was as clueless as always:

REPORTER: "Mr. President, should Putin take responsibility for the plane crash?"

BIDEN: "Apparently he did, but I haven't spoken to my team."

In fact, while Putin has apologized over the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, which killed 38 people, he stopped short of saying Russia… pic.twitter.com/NCGUlwXJKx

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) December 28, 2024

In fact, while Putin has apologized over the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, which killed 38 people, he stopped short of saying Russia was responsible.

The obvious question is, "Why haven't you spoken to your team?"

We will continue to bring you updates as new information comes in.