Azerbaijan Prez Says Crashed Plane Was Shot At From Russia

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that a passenger plane that crashed last week, killing 38 people, had been damaged by shooting from the ground in Russia, and he said some in Russia had lied about the cause of the disaster.

- Reuters

BAKU/MOSCOW:

President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Aliyev for Wednesday's "tragic incident" in Russian airspace involving the plane after Russian air defenses engaged Ukrainian attack drones. A Kremlin statement did not say Russia had shot down the plane, only noting a criminal case had been opened.

"Our plane was shot down by accident," Aliyev told state television on Sunday, adding that the plane had come under some sort of electronic jamming and had then been shot at while it was approaching the southern Russian city of Grozny.