Azerbaijan’s leader on Monday accused Moscow of carrying out a “cover up” over a passenger jet crash last month that claimed 38 lives, as relations sour between the two neighbors.

On 25 December, 38 people died when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, which had been due to land in Russia, crash-landed in Kazakhstan. The circumstances around the crash remain unclear, but limited evidence so far suggests it may have been damaged by missiles fired by a Russian air-defence system as it tried to land in Chechnya.

The probe into the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan is examining the conduct of air traffic controllers after the aircraft encountered difficulty, a source said.

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia all opened investigations into the cause of the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243.

Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended flights to multiple Russian airports in the wake of a deadly plane crash, which it attributed to "physical and technical external interference."

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Russia’s air defense systems were active when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight attempted to land in Grozny, Chechnya on Wednesday.

Captain Igor Kshnyakin, co-pilot Aleksandr Kalyaninov and purser Hokuma Aliyeva lost their lives in the crash landing, while the other two flight attendants, Zulfugar Asadov and Aidan Rahimli, reportedly survived and were being treated in hospital.View on euronews

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.

Survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan reported hearing thuds and explosions from outside the aircraft during the flight, as the cause of the deadly catastrophe remains under investigation.

The Kremlin said Putin had "offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace."

On 25 December, 38 people died when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, which had been due to land in Russia, crash-landed in Kazakhstan. The circumstances around the crash remain unclear, but limited ...