Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin extended an apology to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday over a "tragic incident" involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Russian airspace on Wednesday.

The aircraft, flight J2-8243, went down in flames near Aktau, Kazakhstan, after being redirected from southern Russia, an area reportedly under attack by Ukrainian drones targeting several cities.

The crash resulted in the deaths of at least 38 people, while 29 survived.

"(President) Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured," stated the Kremlin.

According to the Kremlin, the Azerbaijani passenger plane, which was flying as scheduled, made multiple attempts to land at Grozny airport.

This coincided with Russian air defence systems’ retaliation against attacks by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles on Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz.

The incident happened on Christmas. A day later, military experts suggested that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane may have been "accidentally struck" by a Russian surface-to-air missile or anti-aircraft fire.

An inquiry was started, but aviation experts cited in foreign media reports, including the Wall Street Journal, Euronews, and AFP, pointed to damage on the plane consistent with shrapnel from missiles.

Holes in the fuselage and marks on the tail section have been highlighted as evidence supporting this theory.

Azerbaijan Airlines initially attributed the crash to a bird strike but later withdrew the statement.

The plane’s black box was recovered, and data from the flight and voice recorders was being examined as part of the investigation to ascertain the cause of the crash.

Following the incident, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it will suspend flights to several Russian airports, citing potential flight safety risks.