Azerbaijan's leader Ilham Aliyev has urged Russia to take responsibility for a plane crash on Christmas Day that resulted in the deaths of 38 individuals.

The aircraft is believed to have come under attack from Russian air defense systems

 While it was attempting to land in Chechnya before being rerouted to Kazakhstan, where it ultimately crashed.

On Saturday, Russian leader Vladimir Putin expressed Bahrain Phone Numbers List regret to the Azerbaijani president regarding the downing of the airplane in Russian airspace - however, he refrained from accepting accountability.

Aliyev charged Moscow with an initial "cover-up" concerning its role in the incident. While he acknowledged Putin's apology, he insisted that Russia "must acknowledge its guilt" and provide compensation.

The Azerbaijan Airlines flight had been on its way from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya on 25 December when it reportedly came under fire.

Flight J2-82
3 was compelled to divert from Chechnya and ultimately crashed near Aktau, in Kazakhstan, claiming the lives of 38 of the 67 individuals onboard.

The majority of the passengers on the flight were from Azerbaijan, with others hailing from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Aviation specialists and others suspect that the plane's GPS was disrupted by electronic jamming and that it was subsequently damaged by shrapnel from Russian air-defense missile explosions.

However Aliyev noted that in the days that followed the incident

"Russian agencies proposed narratives [of events] about the explosion of some gas cylinder" which "clearly indicated that the Russian side aims to conceal the matter," according to a transcript of an interview with state media.

He also remarked that some people in Russia had seized Cell Phone Number Database upon a theory claiming that the plane was struck by birds. Aliyev referred to both theories as "foolish and dishonest."

The Azerbaijani president conceded that the plane had been shot down unintentionally, yet stated that in the first three days after the crash, "we heard nothing but ridiculous narratives from Russia."

Baku issued a range of demands to Moscow on Friday regarding the incident, he indicated, of which only one - an apology - had been addressed thus far.