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

Russia pledged to hold those responsible for the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which was targeted by Russian air defenses, Azerbaijan

The news comes after a fatal crash involving the carrier’s Embraer E190 aircraft near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev says the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally.

The probe into the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan is examining the conduct of air traffic controllers after the aircraft encountered difficulty, a source said.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally shooting down an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause.