Putin apologised to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane

Putin "apologised" for the "tragic incident" with the Azerbaijani AZAL airliner. He called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, with whom he discussed the crash of the plane, which was travelling from Baku to Grozny. The Russian dictator "expressed his condolences to the families of the victims."

Putin said that this "tragic incident" took place in Russian airspace when Grozny and neighbouring cities were attacked by drones. He also said that in response to the tragedy, the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case and is looking for those responsible.

At the same time, the Kremlin authorities have not yet admitted that it was Russian air defence that shot down the Azerbaijani plane.

It is known that employees of the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan are in Grozny, where they are working together with the Russians. The specialised services of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are also closely cooperating at the crash site near Aktau.

Recall, in the morning of 25 December in Kazakhstan's Aktau crashed a passenger plane from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny in the Russian Federation. In the plane crash killed 38 people. .

Azerbaijani Airlines and Azerbaijani Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev called "external influence" the preliminary cause of the plane crash in Kazakhstan.

After the tragedy with the Baku-Grozny flight, a number of airlines announced the suspension of flights to Russian airports in the North Caucasus and beyond. For example, flights from Astana to Ekaterinburg, which do not even come close to the danger zone, have been suspended.

In particular, airlines of Azerbaijan, Dubai, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Israel have decided to stop flights to some cities of the Russian Federation. A total of 95 flights between Russian cities and foreign countries have been suspended so far, which will hit the Russian economy painfully.