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.

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.

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,