We demand justice, we demand punishment for those responsible, and we demand full transparency, — said the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, regarding the plane crash caused by a Russian missile.

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.

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

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,

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.”

We demand justice, we demand punishment for those responsible, we demand full transparency - said the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, referring to the plane crash caused by a Russian missile. He also accused Moscow of attempting to cover up the incident.

"The blame for this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation," Ilham Aliyev said on Jan. 6.

Azerbaijan's president said on Monday that Russia was "guilty" over the downing of an airline last month that Baku says was shot by Russian air defenses. An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on Dec.