The Kremlin on Thursday cautioned against “hypotheses” over the crash of an Azerbaijani plane heading for Russia, killing 38 people, which Azerbaijan officials reportedly believe was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile.
Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board died.
The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya, southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea.
An investigation is under way, but some aviation and military experts said the plane may have been accidentally shot by Russian air defence systems because it was flying in an area where Ukrainian drone activity had been reported.
A former expert at France’s BEA air accident investigation agency said there appeared to be “a lot of shrapnel” damage on the wreckage.