Putin's apology came as allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.

Putin did admit that Russian air defences were at work when the passenger plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing, and ...

Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace." ...

The Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243, flying from Baku to Grozny, deviated significantly from its intended course, ending ...