Putin expresses condolences for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan, offering aid and emphasizing a thorough investigation.

Azerbaijan held a day of mourning on Thursday for the dozens of victims of an airliner crash in Kazakhstan, as questions were being asked over the cause of the disaster.

The Kremlin on Thursday warned against speculating what may have caused an Azerbaijan Airlines flight to crash, killing 38 of the 67 on board, after an aviation expert said evidence indicated that a Russian anti-missile battery may have brought down the passenger plane.

Russia and Kazakhstan have tried to calm speculation about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, following claims it had been shot down by Russian air defence systems. On Thursday, Moscow urged calm as its foreign minister said it would be wrong to come to conclusions before an investigation into the crash was complete.

Russians shot down an Embraer 190 aircraft of AZAL Airlines, which crashed in Kazakhstan. It is reported that the aircraft was likely downed by a Russian Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and gun system operating in automatic mode,

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane which went down near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday killing 38 people on board may have been "accidentally" shot at by Russia, reports say. A Russian military blogger named Yury Podolyaka told news agency AFP that the holes seen in the plane's wreckage were similar to that caused by an "anti-aircraft missile system".