By Nailia Bagirova and Anton Kolodyazhnyy BAKU/MOSCOW (Reuters) -Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that a passenger plane that crashed last week, killing 38 people, had been damaged by accidental shooting from the ground in Russia,

A day after an Azerbaijani airliner’s crashed in Kazakhstan, aviation experts say the plane most likely went down after being hit by Russian air defense systems.

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.

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.

Russia's head of aviation Dmitry Yadrov claimed a Ukrainian drone attack was underway in Grozny before the plane crashed.

A passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia with 67 people on board crashed in Kazakhstan Wednesday, authorities said.

A U.S. official says a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed and killed dozens. Former FAA and former NTSB investigator Jeff Guzzetti and former Commanding General of the United States Army Europe retired Lt.

Two passengers on the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan told Reuters that they heard at least one loud bang as it approached its original destination of Grozny in southern Russia. Sean Hogan reports.

The crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight prompted several airlines to suspend flights to Russia.