Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has apologized for the fact that an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed after entering Russian airspace in Grozny, Chechnya on Wednesday, but did not say that Russia was responsible.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the plane crash in Russian air space on Christmas Day that left 38 people dead in a statement that said Russia was targeting Ukrainian drones over the plane’s planned destination at the time, but stopped short of taking responsibility.

Vladimir Putin has apologised for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash but stopped short of accepting responsibility for what he described as a “tragic incident.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an airliner.

The Kremlin has said that the Russian president "apologized for the tragic incident" and expressed his "deep and sincere condolences" to the victims' families.

A minister says all the survivors "heard blast sounds" over Grozny before the plane was diverted to Kazakhstan.

U.S. and Azerbaijani officials have said weapons fire may have brought down an Azerbaijani airliner that crashed on Wednesday, killing 38 people

A White House official said the US has seen "early indications" that the fatal crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane was caused by a Russian air defense system. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that the US has "seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.

Azerbaijan Airlines says the jet that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day experienced “physical and technical external interference,” according to an early investigation, as questions swirled about Russia’s possible involvement in the disaster.