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 President Ilham Aliyev said Russia is behind the Christmas Day crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan, which killed 38 of the 67 people aboard. The motives of the incident remain unclear.

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

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.

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.

Flight records for the plane made by Brazil's Embraer that crashed last week in Kazakhstan are headed to the South American country so the data can be extracted, the Brazilian Air Force said in a statement on Monday.

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.

On Christmas Day in Kazakhstan, a tragedy claimed the lives of 38 people when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flight number 8243, crashed during an emergency landing near the city of Aktau. Despite the quick response of rescue services,