The extremely rare publicised apology from Putin was the closest Moscow had come to accepting some blame for Wednesday's disaster, although the Kremlin statement did not say Russia had shot down the plane.

Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted on Saturday that Russia’s air defense systems were active when Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 attempted to land in Grozny, Chechnya on Wednesday.

The Kremlin has said that Putin "apologized for the tragic incident" and expressed his "deep and sincere condolences" the the victims' families.