Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev is demanding answers, saying Vladimir Putin's latest apology "isn't enough" and that Moscow must take responsibility.

In the crash’s aftermath, Azerbaijan has unleashed rare and stinging criticism of Russia, with the country’s president saying Moscow’s response has caused “surprise, regret and rightful indignation.”

Azerbaijan's president has confronted Putin over the devastating plane crash that killed 38 people on Christmas Day.

Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way.

Russia has claimed that its forces captured a battered but strategic town in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a day after Kyiv launched a counterattack in the Russian region of Kursk.

Russia's Defense Ministry is claiming that its troops in eastern Ukraine have captured the town of Kurakhove after a months-long battle.

A large fire engulfed an oil depot overnight on Jan. 8 in the city of Engels in Saratov Oblast, various Russian Telegram media channels reported.

Intense fighting is also taking place between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the key city of Kurakhove, in eastern Ukraine. The cold and winter do not stop the Ukraine war. The fight for every inch of land continues in various areas of Ukraine and Russia.