The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was heading from Azerbaijan to Grozny, Russia, when it was diverted and tried to make an emergency landing.

Officials have said more than three dozen people died from the crash, which saw the plane tear in half as it hit the ground in Kazakhstan while en route to Russia

Preliminary reports indicate that a Russian-operated missile shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, according to a U.S. official.

Russia's leader Vladimir Putin has called Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev to say sorry for Russian air defences firing at the plane which crash landed in Kazakhstan killing 38 people

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.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated on Sunday that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, resulting in the unfortunate loss of 38 lives, had sustained damage due to ground-based shooting in Russia,

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.