There are early indications that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, a U.S. official told ABC News.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash: was this another military shoot-down of a civil aircraft? - Key questions and answers about the first fatal crash anywhere in the world involving a passenger jet in 2024

The flight was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s south, when it diverted and attempted an emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 flight left Baku, Azerbaijan, on Christmas to Grozny, Russia. Instead, the plane crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan.

BAKU (Reuters) -Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday.

The investigation on the crash of the Embraer E190 while attempting an emergency landing is still ongoing, however reports of a possible involvement of

"No one claims that it was done on purpose," an Azerbaijan official told Reuters. They added their government "expects the Russian side to confess."

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which crashed in Kazakhstan on 26 December, was downed by a Russian surface-to-air missile system (SAM). Source: Andrii Kovalenko, Head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine,

In our news wrap Wednesday, at least 38 are dead after an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in Kazakhstan, Ukraine says Russia launched an extensive missile and drone attack on the country’s energy and fuel infrastructure,

Footage of the wrecked fuselage appeared to indicate shrapnel damage and some aviation experts suggested the Azerbaijani Airlines plane may have been been hit by air defence systems over the Russian republic of Chechnya.

By Nailia Bagirova and Gleb Stolyarov BAKU (Reuters) -Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday.