Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday extended an apology to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev for a "tragic incident" involving the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243. The passenger jet was reportedly downed by Russian air defences amidst attempts to counter Ukrainian drone attacks.

Russia's Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Azerbaijan's president for a "tragic incident" which happened in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed after air defences were used against Ukrainian drones.

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan.