Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.

The AZAL passenger plane went down in Kazakhstan due to external interference. They were received when the plane was in Russian airspace, states Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Aliyev noted that the passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines,

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people.