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 crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan after travelling far off course, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, officials said. The Embraer 190 aircraft that was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia,

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

Kazakh media that an oxygen tank had exploded on board the Azerbaijan Airlines plane after a bird strike before the deadly crash. They claimed that flyers had started to fall unconscious before the flight crashed.

At least thirty-eight people were killed after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane bound for Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas morning, a Kazakh official said, adding that 29 others, including two children, survived the disaster. Investigators continue to work to determine what caused the crash.

The Kremlin warns against premature conclusions, as reports mount that its air defenses misidentified the airliner as a Ukrainian drone

HAUNTING footage shows passengers on board the doomed Azerbaijan Airlines flight just moments before it crashed – killing 38 people. Dozens of passengers, including children, miraculously

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.

Kazakh authorities have recovered the flight data recorder and an investigation is under way. Shortly after the crash, reports from Russian state-controlled TV said the most likely cause was a strike from a flock of birds.

MOSCOW -- The second black box was found at the plane crash site near Aktau, Russian media reported Thursday citing a Kazakh official. Law enforcement agencies of Russia and Azerbaijan will participate in the investigation of the plane crash, the report added.

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