The Azerbaijan Airlines plane may have been shot down by Russian air defense systems: what is known.

The Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft crashed in Kazakhstan

A passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines, model Embraer 190, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. Damage was found on the fuselage, which may indicate a possible hit from elements of the Russian air defense missile.

According to the Flightradar service, the plane was flying over the Caspian region on its way to Grozny, after which its radar signals were lost. Fifteen minutes later, the aircraft was recorded near Vladikavkaz, then disappeared again. At 9:07, the plane sent a distress signal over the Caspian Sea. At 9:28, it made an emergency landing.

Two passengers, Subkhonkul Rakhimov and Zaur Mamedov, reported an explosion during the flight.

'There was an explosion - I wouldn't say it was inside the plane. Where I was sitting, the fuselage next to me flew off,' Rakhimov said.

On the same day, drones attacked Vladikavkaz and Chechnya. The regional governor reported an attack on a shopping center in Vladikavkaz, and the secretary of the Security Council of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, confirmed the attack in Chechnya. According to an opposition Chechen Telegram channel NIYSO, at 8:27, air defense systems were operating in the Grozny area.

There were 67 people on board, of whom 29 are currently reported to have survived.