Azerbaijani authorities investigating last week's Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan are probing the "disturbing" possibility that Russian air traffic controllers may have directed the damaged plane out over the Caspian Sea,

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

Authorities in Kazakhstan are investigating the cause of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in the country, which killed 38 people and injured 29 others on Christmas Day.The big picture: Flight J2-8243 was diverted while en route from Baku,

The flight was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s south, when it diverted and attempted an emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

The cause of the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, is still unknown. The Kremlin has so far been tight-lipped, prompting questions over its messaging.

The Kremlin said Putin had "offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan that resulted in 38 fatalities, according to the Kremlin.

A passenger jet operated by Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defence systems against Ukrainian attack drones.

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.