Azerbaijani authorities believe the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, was shot by a Russian anti-aircraft missile, multiple reports said on Thursday. The Turkish state news agency Anadolu cited anonymous senior state officials in Azerbaijan as saying the plane was hit by a missile on Wednesday.

General Kyrylo Budanov from Ukrainian military intelligence claims that an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer-190 was shot down over Russia, resulting in at least 38 deaths. The Embraer-190 belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan.

Multiple shrapnel holes in the plane’s fuselage and its altitude at the time of incident contradict the bird theory. Azerbaijan accused Russia of hitting the passenger jet with a missile. The pilot did not decide to fly to Aktau;