Putin Issues Apology for Azerbaijan Airlines Incident, Avoids Direct Admission of Russian Involvement

Putin said that Russian air defense systems were actively repelling attacks from Ukrainian drones in the region where the aircraft went down.

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijan's president for the downing of an Azerbaijani airliner in Russian airspace. However, he stopped short of directly admitting Russian involvement, stating that a criminal investigation was launched to probe the incident.

Russian President Vladimir Putin - Kremlin

Flight J2-8243, en route…