Vladimir Putin notoriously never apologises. Yet following the accidental shooting down of an Azerbaijani Airlines passenger plane on Christmas Day, he has come as close as he ever could. He stopped short of admitting that it was a Russian missile that was to blame, but recognised in a phone conversation with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliev on Saturday that “the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace”. His unusual candour reflects the way Putin’s position, while strong, is brittle, and can be threatened by unexpected crises.
After all, he had seemed to be ending the year in bullish mood. At his marathon annual press conference ten days ago, he was confident, even cocky, making the tongue-in-cheek suggestion of a “high-tech” duel of Russia’s new Oreshnik intermediate-range
