U.S. officials say "signs of the downing of the Russian air defense system on the Azeri airliner."

It has also been raised in the United States that the crash of an Azerbaijani plane that crashed in Kazakhstan and caused dozens of casualties was shot down by Russian air defenses.

The Reuters news agency reported that U.S. officials said in an interview that signs had been found in an initial investigation that Russia's air defenses had attacked the aircraft.

The official, who asked not to be named, added that if the Russian attack turned out to be true, it would serve as an occasion to highlight the recklessness of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Azerbaijani plane crash was initially suggested to have collided with a flock of birds, but as the investigation progresses, the possibility of being shot down by Russian air defense systems is being weighed.

The Wall Street Journal also raised the possibility of the Russian military's misidentification, saying that the holes in the tail of the plane appear to be caused by a missile attack or air defense system operation.