An Azerbaijan Airlines flight to the southern Russian town of Mineralnie Vody turned back to Baku on Friday after being told a chunk of airspace in southern Russia had been closed, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended flights to multiple Russian airports in the wake of a deadly plane crash, which it attributed to "physical and technical external interference."

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan.

Several airlines have announced the suspension of flights to Russian cities, after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board crashed.

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;

The aircraft was flying from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to Grozny in Russia when it crashed in Kazakhstan. Reuters reported Thursday that Russia's air defenses were believed to have been involved, based on the preliminary findings of the investigation.

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny that crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan was shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. Source: Reuters, citing its sources Quote: "One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan's investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system.

The Russian government has cautioned against promoting "hypotheses" about the cause of the crash of a Russia-bound passenger plane that killed 38 people in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Vladimir Putin apologized Saturday after the US and Azerbaijan accused Russia of shooting down a passenger plane, killing 38 people.

Russia's leader apologises over the downing of an Azerbaijani plane in Russian airspace - without directly taking blame.