Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev for the Kazakhstan plane crash that killed 38 people. In a telephone conversation, Putin informed Aliyev that Russian air defence systems were operational to counter Ukrainian drones when the Azerbaijani Airlines aircraft attempted to land in Grozny prior to its crash, according to a Kremlin statement.
“During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin said, whilst not directly indicating whether Russian air defence was responsible for downing the…