An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, was shot down by a Russian air defense system, Reuters reported Thursday.

The report cited four sources in Azerbaijan familiar with the investigation into the crash. One of the sources said preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system, and its communications were paralyzed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny, Reuters reported. 

“No one claims that it was done on purpose,” the source told Reuters. “However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft.”

Officials in Russia and Kazakhstan have remained tight-lipped after the Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau with dozens of souls aboard.

RUSSIA BEING BLAMED FOR AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES PLANE THAT CRASHED HUNDREDS OF MILES OFF COURSE, KILLING DOZENS

A Ukrainian national security official has blamed Russian air defense fire for the deadly crash, which killed 38 people on Christmas Day. 

The Embraer 190 passenger jet flying from Azerbaijan to Russia had 62 passengers and five crew on board, according to Kazakh authorities. It had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. Twenty-nine people survived. 

Video of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly before bursting into flames as it hit the seashore, and thick black smoke then rising, Reuters reported. 

The plane was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus, the Associated Press reports. (The Administration of Mangystau Region)

Officials did not immediately explain why the plane had crossed the sea, but the crash came shortly after drone strikes hit southern Russia. Drone activity has shut down airports in the area in the past and the nearest Russian airport on the plane’s flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the cause of the crash is under investigation. He told reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict,” the Associated Press reported. 

Kazakhstan’s parliamentary Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev also warned against rushing to conclusions based on pictures of the plane’s fragments, describing the allegations of air defense fire as unfounded and “unethical.”

Other officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have likewise declined to comment on the cause of the crash and pointed to the ongoing investigations for answers, according to the AP.

MORE THAN 30 DEAD IN BRAZIL BUS AND TRUCK COLLISION

Emergency crews at the site of the Azerbaijani airliner crash on Dec. 25, 2024. (Azamat Sarsenbayev)

Earlier, Ukrainian national security official Andriy Kovalenko blamed a “Russian air-defense system” for the crash in an X post on Wednesday.

“However, admitting this is inconvenient for everyone, so efforts will be made to cover it up, even the holes in the remaining parts of the aircraft,” Kovalenko claimed. 

Aviation-security firm Osprey Flight Solutions also said the flight was “likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense sytem,” the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night.

“Video of the wreckage and the circumstances around the airspace security environment in southwest Russia indicates the possibility the aircraft was hit by some form of antiaircraft fire,” Matt Borie, Osprey’s chief intelligence officer, said in an interview.

MALAYSIA AGREES TO RESUME ‘NO FIND, NO FEE’ HUNT FOR FLIGHT MH370, 10 YEARS AFTER PLANE DISAPPEARED

St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov places flowers at the Consulate of Azerbaijan in memory of the crash victims, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Russia’s aviation watchdog, meanwhile, said it was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Azerbaijan observed a national day of mourning on Thursday for the 38 victims of the plane crash. National flags were lowered across the country, traffic stopped at noon and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the people observed a nationwide moment of silence, the AP reported.

“We will never forget the beloved people we lost in the crash of the ‘Embraer-190’ aircraft,” Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement Thursday. “This loss left a deep wound in the heart of an entire community. It reminds us to be more compassionate and connected to one another.” 

“May the souls of those who tragically lost their lives rest in peace, and may their memory live on forever.” 

The EU Foreign Policy chief has said the bloc is preparing sanctions on what it calls Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ after an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged in the Baltic Sea.

Kaja Kallas posted the joint statement from the EU Commission and the High Representative leading the investigation on X, saying the “suspected vessel is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment, while funding Russia’s war budget.”

Kallas also said the EU was strengthening efforts to protect undersea cables, adding that there was no risk to regional electricity supplies.

That comes after Finnish authorities detained a Russian ship as part of an investigation into damage to the Estlink-2 power cable.

It carries electricity from Finland to Estonia across the Baltic Sea and went down on Wednesday.

Finnish police and border guards boarded the Eagle S vessel on Thursday and took over the command bridge, Helsinki Police Chief Jari Liukku said at a press conference.

The vessel was being held in Finnish territorial waters, police said.

The Eagle S is flagged in the Cook Islands but was described by Finnish customs officials and the European Union’s executive commission as part of Russia’s shadow fleet of fuel tankers.

Those are aging vessels with obscure ownership, acquired to skirt Western sanctions and operating without Western-regulated insurance.

Russia’s use of the vessels has raised environmental concerns about accidents given their age and uncertain insurance coverage.

The Eagle S’ anchor is suspected of causing damage to the cable, Yle television reported, citing police statements.

The Estonian government met in emergency session over the incident.

The shadow tankers “are helping Russia to earn funds that will aid Russian hybrid attacks,” Prime Minister Kristen Michal said at a news conference.

“We need to improve the monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure both on land and on sea.”

He said repairs to the cable could take as long as seven months.

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“Repeated damage to Baltic Sea infrastructure signals a systemic threat, not mere accidents,” Estonia’s President Alar Karis said on X.

“Estonia will take action to counter this threat, together with Finland and other NATO allies.”

On high alert

Countries in the region have been on alert following a string of incidents involving undersea cables and gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea since 2022.

Two data cables — one running between Finland and Germany and the other between Lithuania and Sweden — were severed in November.

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Germany’s defence minister said officials had to assume the incident was “sabotage,” but he didn’t provide evidence or say who might have been responsible.

And the Nord Stream pipelines that once brought natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022.

Authorities have said the cause was sabotage and launched criminal investigations.