The Kremlin said air defense systems were firing near Grozny due to a Ukrainian drone strike as the airliner attempted to land, but stopped short of saying it was shot down by Russian air defenses.
The Embraer 190 with 67 passengers and crew was flying from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, Russia, when it crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people.
Azerbaijan observed a day of mourning for the victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the disaster.
Mukhtar Babayev, has been named to lead the United Nations' annual climate talks later this year, prompting concern from some climate activists over his former ties to the state oil company.
Separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said at least 20 people were killed and nearly 300 others injured by an explosion at a gas station as people seeking to flee to Armenia lined up for fuel.
Azerbaijan has renewed efforts to regain control of Nagorno-Karabkh, a disputed enclave with a majority ethnic Armenian population and a decades-long source of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Hostilities began anew last week between the two countries in the deadliest spate of violence since 2020, though a cease-fire reached on Wednesday put a temporary stop to the bloodshed.
A U.S. congressional delegation headed by Speaker of the House have visited Armenia, where a cease-fire has held for three days after an outburst of fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Of 12 sitting heads of state implicated in the Pandora Papers, most are from low- or middle-income countries. So are many other politicians and elites named in the leaked documents.
Nikol Pashinyan warned of a military takeover after the army issued a statement demanding he step down following last year's disastrous conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani troops moved into Aghdam, the first of three districts to be returned to the country under the latest cease-fire. President Ilham Aliyev hailed the moment Friday as a "historic victory."
The announcement of the Kremlin-backed deal sparked unrest in Armenia, where protesters took to the streets and stormed the main government building to oppose a deal they see as one-sided.
The U.S.-brokered truce — the third attempt by outside powers to end hostilities that erupted a month ago — went into effect early Monday. But the two sides quickly accused each other of violating it.
Risks of a wider conflict are too high. The U.S. should use diplomacy to stop the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, writes Gen. Philip Breedlove, former NATO supreme commander in Europe.
