The leader of Azerbaijan criticized the Russian response to the crash of a passenger jet that Azerbaijani officials said had most likely been hit by Russian air defenses.

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.

"Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia," President Ilham Aliyev said, citing statements in Russia that attributed the crash to a bird strike or the explosion of some sort of gas cylinder.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev added that it was unintentional but criticised Moscow for trying to “hush up” the shooting for days.View on euronews

In the crash’s aftermath, Azerbaijan has unleashed rare and stinging criticism of Russia, with the country’s president saying Moscow’s response has caused “surprise, regret and rightful indignation.”