U.S. intelligence shows 'possibility' Azerbaijani plane was hit by Russian weapon, official says

Russian air defence systems may have brought down an Azerbaijan Airlines plane this week, a U.S. official said Friday after an Azerbaijani minister also suggested the plane was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor testimony.

Friday's assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesperson John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defence systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.

These statements raised pressure on Russia. Officials in Moscow have said a drone attack was underway in the region that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was destined for but have not addressed statements from aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defences responding to a Ukrainian attack.

Kirby told reporters on Friday that the U.S. "have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defence systems," but refused to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.

Pressed on whether the U.S. has intelligence that helped lead to that conclusion, or was simply relying on informed speculation from experts based on visual assessments of the crash, Kirby characterized the short answer as "yes" but said he'd "leave it at that," without providing further details.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia was at fault for the crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured.

"We can see how the clear visual evidence at the crash site points to Russia's responsibility for the tragedy," Zelenskyy wrote on X.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on Wednesday when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land there.

Nabiyev, Azerbaijan's minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that "preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact," as does witness testimony.

"The type of weapon used in the impact from outside will be determined during the probe," he said.