Crew members and survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day say they heard at least one loud bang before the aircraft crashed in a ball of fire, heightening speculation that a Russian anti-aircraft missile may have been responsible for the tragedy.

It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for the “tragic incident” although he fell short of admitting responsibility for the disaster.

The Embraer 190 passenger jet flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defense systems against Ukrainian attack drones. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.

Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers aboard Flight J2-8243, told Reuters from the hospital that he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing a bang.

AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BLAMES DEADLY PLANE CRASH ON ‘EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE’ AS RUSSIA SPECULATION GROWS

“After the bang…I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” Rakhimov told the outlet. “It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way. It was as if it was drunk – not the same plane anymore.”

Surviving passenger Vafa Shabanova said that there were “two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground.”

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

Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli , meanwhile, said that after one noise, the oxygen masks automatically released. She said that she went to perform first aid on a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.

Asadov said that the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. Shortly afterward, he sustained a sudden injury like a “deep wound, the arm was lacerated as if someone hit me in the arm with an ax,” he added. He denied a claim from Kazakh officials that an oxygen canister exploded inside the plane.

Asadov said a landing was denied in Grozny due to fog, so the pilot circled, at which point there were bangs outside the aircraft. The aircraft’s two pilots died in the crash.

“The pilot had just lifted the plane up when I heard a bang from the left wing. There were three bangs,” he told Reuters. 

Flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea.

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. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact. Holes could be seen in the plane’s tail section.

More than 30 are feared dead following the crash near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau. (Azamat Sarsenbayev)

IT’S ‘VERY UNCLEAR’ WHAT HAPPENED IN AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES CRASH, EX-STATE DEPT OFFICIAL SAYS

On Saturday, Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev via a phone call “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace,” according to a Kremlin readout of the call.

“(President) Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said. The Kremlin said the call took place at Putin’s request.

On Friday, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the U.S. had seen some early indications that “would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.” He refused to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.

Azerbaijani minister Rashad Nabiyev also suggested the plane was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor accounts.

Preliminary results of Azerbaijan’s probe into the fatal incident suggest the aircraft was struck by a Russian anti-aircraft missile, or shrapnel from such a missile, individuals briefed on the investigation noted, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A source familiar with Azerbaijan’s probe told Reuters that preliminary results indicated the aircraft was hit by a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system — electronic warfare systems paralyzed communications on the aircraft’s approach to Grozny, the source stated, according to the outlet.

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

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the claims that the plane was hit by Russian air defenses, saying that it will be up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.

Russia’s aviation watchdog said on Friday the plane had decided to reroute from its original destination in Chechnya amid dense fog and a local alert over Ukrainian drones. The agency said the captain had been offered other airports at which to land, but had chosen Kazakhstan’s Aktau. 

St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov lays a bunch of flowers at the Consulate of Azerbaijan in the memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan’s airport of Aktau, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended flights to eight additional Russian airports after the tragedy.

The airline noted in a post on X that beginning Dec. 28, flights from Baku to eight Russian airports have been suspended. The announcement comes in addition to the prior suspension of flights between Baku and two other Russian airports.

Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg, Pilar Arias, Elizabeth Pritchett, the Associated Press as well as Reuters contributed to this report.  

The United States is expected to announce that it will send $1.25 billion (€1.2 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine, US officials announced on Friday as Joe Biden pushes to get as much aid to Kyiv as possible before he leaves office in January.

The large package of aid includes a significant amount of munitions, including for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and the HAWK air defence system.

It will also provide Stinger missiles and 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, officials said.

The officials, who said they expect the official announcement to be made on Monday, spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not yet been made public.

The new aid package comes as Russia launched a barrage of attacks against Ukraine’s power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine has said it intercepted a significant number of the missiles and drones.

Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still in a bitter battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of troops from North Korea to help reclaim territory taken by Ukraine.

Earlier this month, senior defence officials acknowledged that the Defence Department may not be able to send all of the remaining $5.6 billion (€5.3 billion) in Pentagon weapons and equipment stocks passed by Congress for Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.

Trump has long been critical of the amount of military aid Washington has provided to Kyiv, raising fears that that flow could stop when he re-enters the White House.

He has also talked about getting some type of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia, saying on the presidential campaign trail that he could end the almost three-year war “in one day”.

But many US and European leaders are concerned that that could result in a poor deal for Ukraine, including the loss of some territory, and they worry that he won’t provide Ukraine with all the weapons funding approved by Congress.

The aid in the new package is in presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to take weapons off the shelves and send them quickly to Ukraine.

Officials have said they hope that an influx of aid will help strengthen Ukraine’s hand, should Zelenskyy decide it’s time to negotiate with Moscow.

One senior defence official said that while the US will continue to provide weapons to Ukraine until 20 January, there may be funds remaining that will be available for the incoming Trump administration to spend.

According to the Pentagon, there is also about $1.2 billion (€1.15 billion) remaining in longer-term funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is used to pay for weapons contracts that would not be delivered for a year or more.

Officials have said the administration anticipates releasing all of that money before the end of the calendar year.

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If the new package is included, the US will have provided more than $64 billion (€61 billion) in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.