Russians who reviewed the transcript of the crew's conversations from the Baku-Grozny flight themselves admit that the air crash was caused by their air defense systems (ADS), according to Andriy Kovalenko,

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an airliner.

Azerbaijan demands compensation from Russia after a passenger plane crash, citing external damage and a mistaken shootdown.

T hursday is an official day of mourning in Azerbaijan as an investigation is underway to determine what caused an airplane carrying 67 passengers to crash on Christmas Day in Kazakhstan, killing 38 and leaving at least 29 survivors. Video posted by CNN shows the plane crash-landing, exploding into a fireball and plumes of black smoke.

On 25 December, 38 people died when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, which had been due to land in Russia, crash-landed in Kazakhstan. The circumstances around the crash remain unclear, but limited evidence so far suggests it may have been damaged by missiles fired by a Russian air-defence system as it tried to land in Chechnya.

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.

Azerbaijan's president accused Russia of trying to cover up its role in a plane crash that killed 38 people. Preliminary results of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash indicated that a missile from a Russian air-defense system hit the aircraft.

"We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia," President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised statement