Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the plane crash in Russian air space on Christmas Day that left 38 people dead in a statement that said Russia was targeting Ukrainian drones over the plane’s planned destination at the time,

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

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

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation told Reuters that Russian air defences mistakenly shot it down.

Israeli forces detained more than 240 Palestinians including dozens of medical staff from a north Gaza hospital they raided on Friday, including its director, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave and Israel's military.

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.

The crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan has killed 38 of 67 people on board. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that aren’t fully clear yet.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday demanded that Russia admit that it fired at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed, accusing Moscow of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster.

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