The Embraer 190 was traveling to Grozny, Russia, but crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people onboard. Investigators are focusing on Russian air defense as the likely cause.

Rashad Nabiyev, Ministry of Digital Development and Transportation of Azerbaijan, said that eyewitness accounts and holes in the fuselage of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan indicate external influence,

A passenger jet operated by Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defence systems against Ukrainian attack drones.