Russia's Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Azerbaijan's president for a "tragic incident" which happened in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed after air defences were used against Ukrainian drones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday extended an apology to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev for a "tragic incident" involving the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243. The passenger jet was reportedly downed by Russian air defences amidst attempts to counter Ukrainian drone attacks.

The Kremlin said Russian air defenses were active when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane tried landing in Grozny, with the Russian president apologizing that the "tragic incident" happened in Russian airspace.