Azerbaijani and US officials claim that the crashed plane may have been hit by gunfire.

(AP) – Russian air defense systems may have collapsed Azerbaijan Airlines this weekA U.S. official said Friday after an Azerbaijani minister suggested the plane was shot down by gunfire, based on expert analysis and testimony from survivors.

Friday’s assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed outside comments aviation experts He attributed the crash to Russian air defense systems responding to the Ukrainian attack. These statements put pressure on Russia, as officials said there was a drone attack on the area where the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was about to land. They did not address the statements blaming air defense.

Kirby told reporters on Friday that the United States was “seeing some early indications that point to the possibility that this jet was shot down by Russian air defense systems” but declined to provide details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Asked whether the U.S. had the intelligence to help reach that conclusion or whether it was based solely on experts’ informed speculation based on their visual assessments of the crash, Kirby called the short answer “yes” but said he would “leave it at that.” “Without giving further details.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of Russia’s Republic of Chechnya, on Wednesday before turning towards Kazakhstan and He fell while trying to get off. 38 people died in the accident and 29 survivors were injured.

Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transport, told Azerbaijani media that “preliminary conclusions of experts indicate external influence”, as do witness statements.

“The type of weapon used in the collision will be determined during the investigation,” Nabiyev said.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane circling over Grozny.

Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said oxygen masks automatically turned on after a noise. He said that he went to give first aid to his colleague Zülfügar Asadov and then they heard another explosion.

Asadov said the sounds sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. He stated that a short time later, he suffered a sudden injury, “like a deep wound, his arm was shattered, as if someone had hit my arm with an axe.” He denied the Kazakh authorities’ claim that an oxygen tank exploded inside the plane.

Another survivor, Jerova Salihat, told Azerbaijani television in an interview at the hospital that “something exploded” near her leg.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones targeted the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.

Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful landing attempts, he was offered other airports, but decided to fly to Aktau, Kazakhstan, via the Caspian Sea.

No comment was made on the statements of some aviation experts, who pointed out that the holes seen in the tail section of the plane indicate that the plane may have come under fire from Russian air defense systems.

Ukrainian drones have previously attacked Grozny and other regions in Russia’s North Caucasus.

Azerbaijan Airlines blamed the crash on unspecified “physical and technical intervention” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. He did not say where the interference came from or provide further details.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on allegations that the plane was shot down by Russian air defense systems, saying it would be up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.

“The air incident is being investigated, and we do not believe that we have the right to make any assessments until the conclusion of the investigation comes out,” Peskov said in a conference call with journalists.

If it is proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian air defense systems, Second fatal civil aviation accident It is linked to the conflict in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile while flying over the region controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

Russia denied responsibility but Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russian Ukrainian for their roles in shooting down the plane using an air defense system brought to Ukraine from a Russian military base.

In the statement made by the Azerbaijani Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, it was stated that Azerbaijani investigators were working in Grozny within the scope of the investigation into Wednesday’s accident.

Following the suspension of flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala on Wednesday, Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it would stop flights to eight more cities in Russia.

The company operates in Moscow and St. It will continue to operate flights to six cities in Russia, including St. Petersburg. These cities have been the target of Ukrainian drone attacks many times in the past.

Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air company also announced on Friday that it has suspended flights from Astana to Yekaterinburg in Russia’s Ural Mountains for a month.

FlyDubai has also suspended flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody in southern Russia for the next few days.

The previous day, Israel’s El Al airline suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow, citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.” The airline said it would re-evaluate the situation next week.

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Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.