Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev blasted Russia for putting forward “absurd” theories initially and said Moscow must compensate victims’ families.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he was “upset and surprised” that Russian officials put forward murky causes instead of promptly taking responsibility.

Russia shot at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane “by accident” on Dec. 25, leading to the aircraft’s fatal crash, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told state TV on Sunday, calling on Moscow to take 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's head of aviation Dmitry Yadrov claimed a Ukrainian drone attack was underway in Grozny before the plane crashed.

The track record tells you what Moscow’s word is worth on the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243.

Ilham Aliyev's comments came after the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin "offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace."

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.

The leader of Azerbaijan has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to apologize and admit guilt for the fate of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, which crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day after a failed attempt to fly from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny.

Azerbaijan said on Monday that Moscow had promised to punish those responsible for the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that Baku says was shot at by Russian air defences.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticized Moscow for trying to "hush up" the issue for days.