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Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for the downing of the plane that killed 38 people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken responsibility for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan, which caused the death of 38 people.
Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and called the incident a "tragic incident" in Russian airspace.
The Kremlin said that as the plane tried to land in the Grozny area, Ukrainian drones were attacking Russia and Russian air defense forces repelled the attacks.
"During this time, Grozny, (the city of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, and Russian air defenses were repelling these attacks," the Kremlin said, but did not specify that Russian air defenses hit the plane.
What happened?
Flight J2-8243 crashed on Christmas Day near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan, killing at least 38 people. He had left Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, and was heading to Grozny, a city in the southern Russian region of Chechnya. But as it neared its destination, the plane veered hundreds of miles to the east and crashed on the other side of the Caspian Sea. There were 29 survivors.
What did the airline say?
Azerbaijan Airlines spoke of "external physical and technical interference".
The company has also suspended a number of flights to Russian cities, although it will continue to serve Moscow and St Petersburg. A passenger on the flight said he heard at least one loud noise as the plane approached Grozny.
What did Russia initially declare?
Initially, Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said the emergency may have been caused by a bird strike.
Before reports of the Russian attack emerged, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it would not be appropriate to comment until an investigation was completed.
Earlier today - more than 15 hours after the reports began to emerge - Peskov said only that he had nothing to add.
And just a few hours ago, Rosaviatsia said that the captain of the plane had been offered other airports for landing, but had chosen Aktau.
The pilot tried to land twice at Grozny airport, the watchdog added, but thick fog and a local drone alert aborted the attempt. He said he would provide comprehensive support to the Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan investigations.
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