Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an airliner.

A survivor of Wednesday’s Azerbaijan Airlines crash said the plane’s pilots tried to land in Grozny, Chechnya three times, followed by an explosion outside the plane, according to an audio recording shared by Russian TV channel RT.

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.

A White House official said the US has seen "early indications" that the fatal crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane was caused by a Russian air defense system. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that the US has "seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.

Two U.S. military officials tell NBC News the U.S. has intelligence indicating that the Russians may have misidentified the Azerbaijan Airlines flight that went down earlier this week, and shot it down with an air defense system.

Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, likely caused by Russian air defense, shines light on a glaring issue the Kremlin has long swept under the rug.

Putin apologises over Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash – but does not admit fault - Azerbaijan says the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries ‘due to fo

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has had a telephone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, during which they discussed the crash of an Embraer plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines.