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.

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight traveling from Baku to Grozny crashed in Kazakhstan with nearly 70 passengers onboard on December 25. Two dozen survivors are in a critical condition, according to reports.

Azerbaijani President said Sunday that the plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday "was damaged from outside on Russian territory."

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

Azerbaijan's president accused Russia of trying to cover up its role in a plane crash that killed 38 people. Preliminary results of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash indicated that a missile from a Russian air-defense system hit the aircraft.

Authorities in Azerbaijan said Monday that Russian law enforcement officials promised to punish those responsible for the downing of an Azerbaijani Airlines passenger plane last week. The AZAL Embraer 190 jet crashed in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday,

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticized Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days.