Russia’s president is said to have blamed birds or a Ukrainian drone for a Dec. 25 crash of an Azerbaijani plane. Azerbaijan says Russian air defenses were at fault.

The Kremlin has declined to state that Russian forces were responsible for downing the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 on December 25, 2024. Russia acknowledged that its air defense systems were active at the time of the incident to shoot down Ukrainian drones but has stopped short of saying it brought down the aircraft.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 was traveling from the Azerbaijani ... incident occurred in Russian airspace,” but did not accept responsibility. Putin said Russia’s air defense systems were active when the plane attempted to land in Grozny ...

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned airlines to steer clear of several cities in Russia following the fatal crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet that was likely shot down by Russian forces.

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from ... Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny ...

ASTANA, January 15. /TASS/. Deciphered information from flight recorders of the crashed Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane has been received by Kazakhstan and is now being examined by specialists, TASS has learned from the republic’s Transport Ministry.

Russia's foreign minister is the first official to comment on the data extracted from the Azerbaijan Airlines flight's black box.

"At this stage, there’s no need to create a media frenzy by relying on information that, for the most part, is not supported by the data from the black boxes," the Russian foreign minister added

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a new alert on Thursday warning non-European carriers not to fly within western Russia airspace due to the risk of being unintentionally targeted by its air-defence systems.

The European Aviation Safety Agency issued a bulletin warning airlines against flying over western Russia due to the risk of being shot down.

Europe warns its airlines to stay away through next summer, as Ukraine turns skies of western Russia into a battlefield.