Russia mistakenly shot down plane over Kazakhstan, Azerbaijani president says

An Azerbaijani airliner which crash landed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day was unintentionally shot down by Russia, Azerbaijan’s president has said.

Ilham Aliyev told state television the aircraft was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare.

The passenger plane crashed near Grozny, Chechnya, killing 38 out of 67 people on board on Wednesday.

Aliyev said that the jet wasn’t shot down deliberately, but accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days.

On Saturday, Putin apologised to Aliyev for what he called a “tragic incident”, but stopped short of admitting responsibility for bringing the jet down.

The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.

On Saturday, the UK called for an independent investigation into the circumstances of the crash.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “President Putin’s statement fails to recognise that the reckless and irresponsible actions of the Russian state pose an acute and direct threat to the interests and national security of other states.

“We call for a full and independent investigation.”

US officials had said there were indications the jet was downed by weapons.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.

Mobile phone footage appearing to capture the moment of the crash showed the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball.

Witnesses and survivors reported hearing explosions as the plane came down.