Following Azerbaijan's president calling for Moscow to accept blame for downing an Azerbaijani plane, there is growing public anger toward Russia for its apparent attempts to sidestep responsibility for the incident.

"We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia," President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised statement

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the “tragic incident,” which left 38 people dead, though he stopped short of taking responsibility.

Azerbaijan has demanded that Russia admit its guilt over a Christmas Day plane crash that killed 38 people, the country's President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday. The big picture: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Aliyev for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash occurring in Russian airspace,

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.

Russia's leader apologises over the downing of an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace - without directly taking blame.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev says Russia shot down one of his country's passenger planes "by accident" last week.

Azerbaijan plane hit by shooting from Russia before crash, country’s president says - The UK has called for an independent investigation into the downing of an Azerbaijani plane thought to have been c