The Kremlin has declined to state that Russian forces were responsible for downing the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 on December 25, 2024. Russia acknowledged that its air defense systems were active at the time of the incident to shoot down Ukrainian drones but has stopped short of saying it brought down the aircraft.

The crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan has killed 38 of 67 people on board. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that aren’t fully clear yet.

Experts say evidence in the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan points to a possible midair explosion, not an encounter with a flock of birds.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally downing an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause.

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was scheduled to travel from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, a city in the Russian region of Chechnya, on Wednesday, but was diverted and ultimately crashed on the other side of the Caspian Sea, less than two miles from the airport in Aktau, Kazakhstan.

Russia's aviation watchdog said on Friday that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane which crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday had decided to reroute from its original destination in Chechnya amid dense fog and a local alert over Ukrainian drones.

On Dec. 25, an Embraer 190 plane, operating as Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, crashed near Aktau International Airport in Kazakhstan. The crash ...

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally ... Embraer 190 on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024.

Azerbaijan is observing a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the crash that remained unknown.

Early indications suggest a Russian anti-aircraft system may have downed the passenger jet that crashed in Kazakhstan, a US official told CNN, as authorities recovered a second black box that they hope will shed light on the cause of the disaster that killed dozens of people.

The latest conflict zone warnings came after the shooting down of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190 in December 2024.