The leader of Azerbaijan criticized the Russian response to the crash of a passenger jet that Azerbaijani officials said had most likely been hit by Russian air defenses.

Azerbaijani authorities believe the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, was shot by a Russian anti-aircraft missile, multiple reports said on Thursday. The Turkish state news agency Anadolu cited anonymous senior state officials in Azerbaijan as saying the plane was hit by a missile on Wednesday.

Multiple shrapnel holes in the plane’s fuselage and its altitude at the time of incident contradict the bird theory. Azerbaijan accused Russia of hitting the passenger jet with a missile. The pilot did not decide to fly to Aktau;