NEW DELHI: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a statement blamed ‘shooting’ from Russia for the tragic plane crash that killed 38 people on December 25. The plane was reportedly hit in Russian space, causing it to go down in Kazakhstan.

Aliyev added he regretted that "some circles" in Russia were trying to hide the truth, hinting that some tried to stir confusion by sowing false narratives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday had diled Aliyev and tendered an apology for the incident. However, he stopped short of saying Russian forces were at fault. Putin said the accident happened when Russian air defences were fired against a Ukrainian drone attack.

“The Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was travelling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.

This was the first time that the Kremlin responded to the crash, something that officials in Ukraine and the US had already attributed to Moscow.

Aliyev in his televised address said Baku demands Moscow's "acknowledgement of guilt, punishment of the guilty and payment of compensation."

However, the Azeri president noted that Russia had not taken down the plane on purpose as it was a "friendly country."

"Of course, our plane was shot down not on purpose. To admit guilt, to apologise in time to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and to bring this to the public - all these were measures and steps that had to be taken," the head of state said.