Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to the president of Azerbaijan for a "tragic incident" in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan.
The aircraft carrying 67 people departed from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, on Wednesday. It was heading for Grozny in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya. Authorities say 38 people were killed.
The Russian presidential office announced on Saturday that Putin spoke with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the phone.
The statement said it was noted that the aircraft repeatedly attempted to land in Grozny. Putin explained that the area was being attacked by Ukrainian drones at the time and Russian air defense systems were repelling the attacks.
It did not say whether the air defense system had misfired but suggested the system was somehow linked to the crash.
The Azerbaijani presidential office said Aliyev stressed in the conversation that the aircraft's fuselage had multiple holes, and that testimony from flight attendants and passengers "confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference."