Japanese influential NHK TV broadcast a reportage on Russian President Vladimir Putin admitting that Russia was responsible for the shooting down of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane last year.

The reportage reads: “Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country was responsible for shooting down an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that killed 38 people last year. He said the crash was a "tragedy," and that technical failures in the Russian air defense system were to blame.

Putin made the remarks at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday. They were attending a summit of the former Soviet nations in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

The plane was heading for southern Russia when it crashed in western Kazakhstan on Christmas Day. Sixty-seven people were onboard.

Putin told President Ilham Aliyev two Russian missiles had exploded "about 10 meters" away from the plane after Ukrainian drones entered Russian airspace. He noted that the damage was not caused by warheads, but most likely by missile debris.

The Azerbaijani president had been blaming Moscow for the incident, and Putin's comments are believed to be an attempt to repair ties with Azerbaijan.”