Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised for the "tragic incident" which resulted in the crash of an Azerbaijani passenger plane in Russian airspace.

The Russian president launched a criminal investigation into the disaster, but stopped short of accepting responsibility.

Vladimir Putin admitted Saturday Russian air defence was working when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny ...

Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace." ...