Russia won't say if it mistakenly downed an Azerbaijani plane on Christmas. But it acknowledges the crash came amid a Ukrainian drone attack in its republic of Chechnya.

A survivor of Wednesday’s Azerbaijan Airlines crash said the plane’s pilots tried to land in Grozny, Chechnya three times, followed by an explosion outside the plane, according to an audio recording shared by Russian TV channel RT.

Azerbaijan Airlines, the carrier of the passenger jet that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, said preliminary investigations have found the disaster occurred “as a result of physical and technical external interference,

The Kremlin has refused to comment, but Russia's civil aviation agency said the situation in Chechnya was "very complicated" at the time.

Russia's aviation watchdog said on Friday that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane which crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday had decided to reroute from its original destination in Chechnya amid dense fog and a local alert over Ukrainian drones.

An Azerbaijan MP has blamed Russia for shooting down the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, describing the situation as "impossible to deny." The plane crash, which killed 38 people, was first reported on December 25,

A minister says all the survivors "heard blast sounds" over Grozny before the plane was diverted to Kazakhstan.

A U.S. official tells NBC News there are early indications that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan may have been hit by a Russian anti-aircraft system. The official said if it turns out to be the case,

The U.S. government suggested Friday that Russia may be to blame for this week’s deadly Azerbaijan Airlines crash, echoing experts’ assessment of the tragedy as investigations remain ongoing. Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was scheduled to travel from Baku,

U.S. officials say Russia could be behind a passenger plane crash in Kazakhstan that left at least 38 dead Wednesday, but Russia is denying any involvement.