Putin apologises to Aliyev over Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. In an official statement Saturday, the Kremlin said air defence systems were firing near Grozny on Wednesday due to a Ukrainian drone strike, but stopped short of saying one of these hit the plane. On Friday, a US official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon.