Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday for what he described as a "tragic incident" following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that resulted in 38 deaths.

The Kremlin has said that Putin "apologized for the tragic incident" and expressed his "deep and sincere condolences" the the victims' families.

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.