Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the President of Azerbaijan for the crash of the civilian airliner that killed 38 people, the Kremlin said Saturday, stopping short of admitting responsibility.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the "tragic incident" involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. However, the dictator did not acknowledge the downing of the aircraft,

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Russia’s air defense systems were active when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight attempted to land in Grozny, Chechnya on Wednesday.