MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) - On the Russian side's initiative, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the Kremlin press service said in a statement on Saturday.
"The parties discussed in detail the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25," it said.
"Vladimir Putin offered his apologies in connection with the fact that the tragic incident happened in the Russian airspace and once again offered deep and sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and wished those injured a speedy recovery," the Russian presidential press service said.
"It was stated during the conversation that the Azerbaijani commercial airliner, which was flying strictly according to the timetable, had repeatedly tried to land at the Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defense weapons were repelling those attacks," the statement said.
It was also stated that two employees of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office are now in Grozny, where they are working with representatives of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and the Russian Investigative Committee. The relevant services of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are closely working on the crash site in the Aktau area as well.
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case on counts of a violating air traffic rules and rules governing air transport operation. Initial investigative actions are underway, and civilian and military specialists are being questioned.
On December 25, an Embraer 190 of Azerbaijan Airlines en route from Baku to Grozny crashed near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan. There were 67 passengers, including five crewmembers, onboard, among them 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, six Kazakh citizens, and three Kyrgyz citizens. Thirty-eight people died in the air crash.