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

As many as 38 persons were killed in the deadly crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines-operated Embraer 190 plane near the Aktau city of Kazakhstan.

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight travelling from Baku to Grozny has crashed in Kazakhstan with nearly 70 passengers onboard. Several survivors are in a critical condition. Source: Radio Liberty's Kazakhstan service;