New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday apologised to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev after the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that resulted in the deaths of 38 passengers. Putin described the incident as a “tragic incident” and conveyed his condolences to the victims’ families, while also wishing a swift recovery to those injured.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that 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,” the Kremlin said in a statement as reported by news agency Reuters.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was travelling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks,” it added.
(This is a developing story)
