The Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was downed by a Russian air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.
An Embraer EMBR3.SA passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, after diverting from an area of Russia in which Moscow has used air defence systems against Ukrainian drone strikes in recent months.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route from Azerbaijan's Baku to Grozny, in Russia's Chechnya, to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea, after what Russia's aviation watchdog said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.
Officials did not immediately explain why it had crossed the sea, but the crash came after Ukrainian drone strikes this month hit the Chechnya region of southern Russia. The nearest Russian airport on the plane's flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
Russian, Azerbaijani and Kazakhstani officials have all called for investigations into the crash.
Iran sends missiles into Israel, dismisses Trump's talk of negotiations as 'fake news'
Iran denies talks with US after Trump postpones strikes on power grid
Israeli minister calls for annexation of southern Lebanon
Kim Jong Un says North Korea’s nuclear status is irreversible, threatens South
Japan to start releasing oil from joint stockpiles by end-March, PM says
Death toll nearly doubles to 66 in Colombian military plane crash
Seven overhead power lines out of service due to falling debris in Kuwait
Airstrikes on Iraqi site kill 10 fighters including commander
