President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told the Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, in a phone call, “that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.”

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Saturday, 28 December 2024 apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan for the Kazakhstan plane crash of the AZAL airliner that occurred in Russia's airspace and conveyed his condolences to the families of the plane crash victims.

Survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day say they heard at least one loud bang before the aircraft crashed.