Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev blasted Russia for putting forward “absurd” theories initially and said Moscow must compensate victims’ families.

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

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally.

By Nailia Bagirova and Anton Kolodyazhnyy BAKU/MOSCOW (Reuters) -Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that a passenger plane that crashed last week, killing 38 people, had been damaged by accidental shooting from the ground in Russia,

Russia shot at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane “by accident” on Dec. 25, leading to the aircraft’s fatal crash, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told state TV on Sunday, calling on Moscow to take responsibility for the incident.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday (December 29) that he wanted Russia to accept it was guilty of downing a passenger plane that crashed last week, killing 38 people, adding that some in Russia had lied about the cause of the disaster.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally. Aliyev told Azerbaijani state television the aircraft was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan killing 38 people had been damaged due to shooting from the ground in Russia, Azerbaijan state television reported.

Putin and Aliyev are similar in many ways – authoritarian-minded, intolerant of criticism and firmly in charge of their respective governments. In recent years they have significantly expanded bilateral relations.

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,

Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of shooting down a plane that crashed on Christmas Day, killing 38 people.