Russia may be responsible for downed Azerbaijani plane, says US

White House spokesperson John Kirby has said the US has seen "early indications" that Russia whitethorn person been liable for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines level that crashed connected 25 December, sidesplitting 38 people.

Mr Kirby did not elaborate further, but told reporters the US had offered assistance to the probe into the crash.

The level is thought to person travel nether occurrence from Russian aerial defence systems arsenic it tried to onshore successful Chechnya earlier being diverted crossed the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, wherever it crashed.

The Kremlin has refused to comment, but the caput of Russia's civilian aviation bureau said the concern successful Chechnya was "very complicated" owed to Ukrainian drone strikes connected the region.

Mr Kirby said the indications the US had seen went beyond wide circulated photos of the damaged plane, the Washington Post reported.

Aviation experts and others successful Azerbaijan judge the plane's GPS systems were affected by physics jamming and it was past damaged by shrapnel from Russian air-defence rocket blasts.

Azerbaijan has not accused Russia, but the country's transport curate said the level was taxable to "external interference" and damaged wrong and retired arsenic it tried to land.

"All [the survivors] without objection stated they heard 3 blast sounds erstwhile the craft was supra Grozny," said Rashad Nabiyev.

Mr Nabiyev said investigators would present analyse "what benignant of weapon, oregon alternatively what benignant of rocket was used."

However, pro-government MP Rasim Musabekov was clear: "The level was changeable down implicit Russian territory, successful the skies supra Grozny. Denying this is impossible."

He told AFP quality bureau the level had been damaged and the aviator had asked to marque an exigency landing successful Grozny. Instead of being directed to adjacent airports, helium said it was "sent acold away" crossed the Caspian Sea without GPS.

Flight attendant Zulfuqar Asadov described the moments erstwhile the level was deed by "some benignant of outer strike" implicit Chechnya.

"The interaction of it caused panic inside. We tried to calm them down, to get them seated. At that moment, determination was different strike, and my limb was injured."

The pilots of the Embraer 190 level are credited with redeeming 29 of those connected committee by managing to onshore portion of the plane, contempt themselves being killed successful the crash.

The Kremlin has refused to remark connected the expanding fig of reports that the Azerbaijan Airlines level was deed by Russian aerial defence.

"An probe into this aviation incidental is underway and until the conclusions are made arsenic a effect of the investigation, we bash not see ourselves entitled to springiness immoderate assessments," said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Kazakh authorities person been treating the injured and moving intimately with Azerbaijan connected the investigation.

Reports successful Baku suggest some Russia and Kazakhstan person projected having a committee from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) - a determination organisation dominated by Russia - analyse the crash, but Azerbaijan has alternatively demanded an planetary inquiry.