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 hit by missiles fired by a Russian air-defence system as it tried to land in Chechnya.

The statement is the closest officials have come to confirming mounting suspicions that the plane was downed by a Russian air-defense system.

Azerbaijan Airlines said that the crash of its plane in Kazakhstan on 25 December was caused by physical and technical external influence. Source: European Pravda with reference to the airline's statement on X (Twitter) Details: In the released statement,