Azerbaijan escalates rare standoff with Russia over downing of passenger plane

<p>Baku reportedly preparing to appeal to ‘an international court’ unless Moscow takes responsibility for crash </p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/07/greenland-independence-referendum-denmark-snap-election-sweden-belgium-europe-latest-updates-news">Europe live – latest updates</a></li></ul><p>Azerbaijan is escalating its rare standoff with the Kremlin as the fallout from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/26/russia-seeks-to-play-down-speculation-over-azerbaijan-airlines-crash">downing of an Azerbaijani passenger jet</a> continues, highlighting Russia’s diminishing influence across the former Soviet Union.</p><p>Thirty-eight people were killed when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed on 25 December near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after rerouting across the Caspian Sea from southern Russia.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/07/azerbaijan-escalates-rare-standoff-russia-downing-passenger-plane">Continue reading...</a>