“External physical and technical interference” was experienced by the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the airline said, citing preliminary results of an investigation into the incident.
At least 38 people were killed when flight J2-8243 came down near the city of Aktau after diverting from an area of Russia in which Russian air defence systems had been used against Ukrainian drone strikes in recent months.
The Embraer passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s southern Chechnya region, before veering off hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.
Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster told Reuters that Russian air defences had mistakenly shot it down.
The head of Russia’s civil aviation agency that Ukrainian drones were attacking the city of Grozny as the was trying to land there.
Dmitry Yadrov also said on Telegram that there was heavy fog over Grozny when the incident occurred and “conditions that day and in those hours around the airport were very complicated”.
“Ukrainian military drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure… at the time,” Mr Yadrov said, adding that the plane made two unsuccessful attempts to land.
“The pilot was offered alternative airports. He took the decision to go to Aktau airport,” he said.
Russia’s aviation watchdog previously said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.
Mr Yadrov also said that Grozny airport had suspended arrivals and departures because of the Ukrainian drone attacks, though without specifying when this happened.
The Kremlin has declined to comment until the official investigation is completed.
A survivor of the crash told Reuters that there was at least one loud bang as it approached Grozny in southern Russia.
“I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers, told Reuters from hospital, adding that he began to recite prayers and prepare for the end.
After the loud bang, the plane acted strangely as if it was drunk, he said.
Azerbaijan Airlines said it was suspending flights to seven Russian cities after the crash.
The airline said it was “taking into account the initial results of the investigation into the crash… and taking into account flight safety risks”.