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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the President of Azerbaijan for the crash of the civilian airliner that killed 38 people, the Kremlin said Saturday.

On 25 December, 38 people died when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, which had been due to land in Russia, crash-landed in Kazakhstan. The circumstances around the crash remain unclear, but limited evidence so far suggests it may have been hit by missiles fired by a Russian air-defence system as it tried to land in Chechnya.