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.

The leader of Azerbaijan criticized the Russian response to the crash of a passenger jet that Azerbaijani officials said had most likely been hit by Russian air defenses.

"Those responsible must be punished, brought to criminal responsibility, and compensation must be paid," President Ilham Aliyev said.