Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire as it tried to make an emergency landing in Aktau, southwestern Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. It was traveling from the Azeri capital Baku to Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

An Azerbaijani airliner has crashed in Kazakhstan after being diverted, killing 38 of 67 people on board. Some experts alleged that the plane went down after being hit by Russian air defense systems. Some things to know about the crash and the speculation about a possible cause:

Russia and Kazakhstan have tried to calm speculation about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, following claims it had been shot down by Russian air defence systems. On Thursday, Moscow urged calm as its foreign minister said it would be wrong to come to conclusions before an investigation into the crash was complete.

RUSSIA downed a passenger plane over Kazakhstan on Christmas Day killing 38 in a fireball crash, according to government sources. An initial investigation by the Azerbaijani government reportedly

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday killing 38 people was shot down by a Russian air defence system, according to four sources in Azerbaijan familiar with the investigation.

The flight was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s south, when it diverted and attempted an emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

The Russian government has warned against promoting “hypotheses” on the causes of the crash of a passenger plane bound for Russia that resulted in the deaths of 38 people in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, a

An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it crashed, killing 38 people onboard.

The head of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, also claimed that the crash was caused by the Russian air defence fire.

Several passenger plane crashes have occurred worldwide this year, including a Wednesday morning Azerbaijan Airlines wreck that has left dozens feared dead.

The Russian government has cautioned against speculating on the cause of the deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan, which killed 38 people on Wednesday.

Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the disaster,