Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia shot down the Azerbaijani Airlines jetliner which crashed on Christmas day killing 38 people.
The flight from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny crashed with 67 passengers and five crew members on board near Aktau, western Kazakhstan last year.
Russia on Thursday admitted for the first time that their air defenses were to blame for downing the jet which attempted to make an emergency landing before erupting in a fireball.
Putin's first admission of responsibility for the crash comes in an effort to ease tensions between the neighbours.
He said the missiles fired by Russian air defenses to target a Ukrainian drone exploded near the Azerbaijan Airlines plane as it was preparing to land in Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
