Clearly, the final version will be determined after analyzing the black boxes. However, the initial versions are well-grounded and based on facts. The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged externally over Russian territory near Grozny,

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan.

In a Dec. 27 phone conversation with Aliyev, Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev discussed the progress of work of the special state commission to investigate the crash and assured that the Kazakh side will make every effort to ensure comprehensive and objective clarification of all circumstances of the crash.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation told Reuters that Russian air defences mistakenly shot it down.

"We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia," President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised statement

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.

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.

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.