Survivors from the Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 that went down in Kazakhstan are speaking out for the first time since the tragedy. 29 passengers survived the crash.

Moscow—Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized on Saturday over the crash of an Azerbaijani Airlines plane, though he stopped short of accepting that it might have been hit by Russian fire. Putin did admit that Russian air defenses were at work when the passenger plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing,

As many as 38 people died in a horrific crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane near the Aktau city in Kazakhstan earlier this week. The flight, J2-8243, carrying 62 passengers and five crew members, was supposed to fly from Baku to Grozny in Russia's Chechnya.

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan.

Vladimir Putin admitted Saturday Russian air defence was working when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing, breaking the Kremlin's silence as speculation mounted Russia may have accidentally shot the plane.

An Azerbaijan Airlines statement on Dec. 27 blamed “interference” for the Christmas Day plane crash that killed 38 people.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243, an Embraer 190, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on5, 2024. The plane, which had been diverted from Grozny due to poor weather conditions and Ukrainian drone attacks,