Russia's aviation chief said Friday that an Azerbaijani Airlines plane that eventually crashed in Kazakhstan tried to land in the Chechen city of Grozny as it was being attacked by Ukrainian drones.

The Azerbaijan Airlines jet crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday after attempting to land at its destination in Grozny and then diverting far off course across the Caspian Sea.

Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board died, with some reports suggesting the plane could have been accidentally shot at by Russian air defences.

A surviving passenger told Russian TV that an explosion appeared to take place outside the plane, with shrapnel flying in.

The head of Russia's civil aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, said in a statement that "the situation on this day and at these hours in the area of Grozny airport was very complex".

"Ukrainian attack drones at this time were making terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz," Yadrov said, referring to a nearby city.

Yadrov said........

© International Business Times