MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s embassy in Seoul on Wednesday denied that Moscow had formally apologized to South Korea over an alleged airspace violation during a joint air patrol with China the previous day, the Interfax news agency reported.

South Korea on Tuesday accused a Russian military aircraft of entering its airspace over a disputed island during a long-range joint air patrol by Russian and Chinese aircraft.

Seoul said earlier on Wednesday that an unidentified Russian military attache working in the South Korean capital had expressed deep regret and blamed an equipment malfunction for the incident.

But Russian diplomats in Seoul denied that version of events.

“The Russian side did not make an official apology,” the embassy in Seoul said, adding it had noted many inaccuracies in the comments by South Korea, Interfax reported.