The head of Russia's civil aviation agency said Friday that Ukrainian drones were attacking the city of Grozny as an Azerbaijani Airlines plane was trying to land there, before it later crashed in Kazakhstan.

Dmitry Yadrov also said on Telegram that there was heavy fog over Grozny when the incident occurred Wednesday and "conditions that day and in those hours around the airport were very complicated".

North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in the fighting in Russia's Kursk region and facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks, Ukraine's military intelligence said Thursday.

The intelligence agency, known under its acronym GUR, said Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. It said North Korean troops also faced supply issues and even shortages of drinking water.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved parliament on Friday and confirmed the expected date for the early general election prompted by the collapse of Olaf Scholz's government last month.

"I have decided to dissolve the 20th German Bundestag to fix the date for an early election for February 23rd," Steinmeier said in a speech, adding that "political stability in Germany is a precious asset".

Azerbaijan Airlines said on Friday it was suspending flights to seven Russian cities after one of its Russia-bound jets veered off course and crashed in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

The airline said it was "taking into account the initial results of the investigation into the crash... and taking into account flight safety risks", after reports that investigators had found the plane could have been shot down by a Russian air defense missile.

The Kremlin on Thursday cautioned against "hypotheses" over the crash of an Azerbaijani plane which had been due to land in Russia as experts pointed to possible evidence of a missile explosion.

The Russian operator of a cargo ship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria said Thursday that it had been hit by a series of explosions in an act of sabotage.

Oboronlogistica, a state-controlled company that operated the Ursa Major freighter, said it was wrecked by three powerful explosions just above the water line in what it described as a "terrorist attack" that caused it to sink.

Russia's top security agency said Thursday that it has arrested several suspects accused of involvement in an alleged Ukrainian plot to assassinate senior military officers, an announcement that follows the killing of a top Russian general last week.

The Federal Security Service, a top KGB successor known under its Russian acronym FSB, said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that it had arrested four Russians accused of making preparations to kill senior Defense Ministry officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Wednesday an "inhumane" attack from Russia, which launched over 170 missiles and drones, knocking out power in several regions on Christmas Day and killing an energy worker.

Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border province of Afghanistan killed 46 people, the Taliban government spokesman told AFP on Wednesday, as the defense ministry vowed retaliation.

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet with 67 people on board crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan after veering from its scheduled route, officials said.