to Grozny in Chechnya in Russia on Wednesday. The flight attempted to make an emergency landing about 1.8 miles from Aktau, according to Azerbaijan Airlines, but instead hit the ground, erupted into a fiery ball and split into two. Vladimir Putin’s ...

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.

Preliminary findings of an investigation into the crash of an Azerbaijan plane have indicated the disaster was the work of Russian air defences.

Russia and Kazakhstan have tried to calm speculation about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, following claims it had been shot down by Russian air defence systems. On Thursday, Moscow urged calm as its foreign minister said it would be wrong to come to conclusions before an investigation into the crash was complete.

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

New up-close images of the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines flight JS-8243 show the doomed flight appears to have been struck by numerous fragments or other similar objects before crash-landing in

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Russia crashed, hospitalizing survivors while dozens are feared dead.

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on Christmas Day was “likely shot down by a Russian military air defence system,” a UK-based aviation security firm has said.

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.

NATO called for a formal investigation into the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people in Kazakhstan on Thursday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Russia crashed, hospitalizing survivors while dozens are feared dead.