Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally shooting down an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause. “We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia.

President Ilham Aliyev, an ally of president Vladimir Putin, has accused the Russian regime of trying to cover up a plane crash which killed 38 people on Christmas Day

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the “tragic incident,” which left 38 people dead, though he stopped short of taking responsibility.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has called on Russia to accept blame for a plane crash on Christmas Day that killed 38 people. The plane is thought to have come under fire from Russian air defence systems as it tried to land in Chechnya before being diverted to Kazakhstan, where it crashed.

Russia's leader apologises over the downing of an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace - without directly taking blame.

A plane which crashed killing 38 people on Christmas Day was shot at from the ground as it travelled over Russia, the president of Azerbaijan said. Ilham Aliyev said today that he regretted that ‘some circles’ in Russia had tried to hush up the truth by sowing false narratives about what caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane to crash.

Azerbaijan on Sunday paid tribute to the pilots and passengers of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan killing 38 people after Russian air defences were used against Ukrainian drones.

The deadly Christmas Day crash of an Azerbaijani plane in Kazakhstan may have been caused by a Russian air defence system, a US official said on Friday. It comes after sources close to Azerbaijan’s investigation into the incident said fire from a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system was believed to be behind the devastating crash,