Vladimir Putin admitted Saturday Russian air defense was working when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing, while stopping short of claiming responsibility. The Kremlin said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev over the “tragic incident” in a phone call,

While some in Azerbaijan - a Russian ally - have called for an apology from Moscow, Kazakhstan, one of Moscow's main allies, has not pointed the finger at Russia. Russian officials had earlier said that Ukrainian drones were attacking Grozny that day.