The flight was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s south, when it diverted and attempted an emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane flew hundreds of miles off its scheduled route from Baku to Grozny, and crashed on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Russia's aviation watchdog said a bird strike might have been the cause.

( NewsNation) — A former NATO ambassador says Russia will likely never take responsibility for striking down an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.