DUSHANBE, October 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev his earlier apologies over the tragedy that occurred with the AZAL flight in Russian skies.
"Back then, in our first phone conversation, I apologized for the tragedy having taken place precisely in the Russian airspace and expressed my sincerest condolences to the families of those that were killed," the Russian head of state said during a meeting with the Azerbaijani president.
The Embraer 190 passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed on December 25 near the Kazakh city of Aktau. There were 67 people on board — 62 passengers and five crew, including citizens of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. According to the latest data, 29 people survived. There were 16 Russian citizens among the passengers. Nine of them survived, and were taken to Moscow and federal medical institutions.