Investigators have identified one of the two surviving women from the Aktau plane crash as a citizen of Azerbaijan, while the identity of the second woman remains unknown.

Residents of the Mangystau region saw off nine Russian citizens injured in the plane crash in Aktau to Moscow, according to the press service of the regional akimat (local government administration).

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route from Azerbaijan to Russia to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan. A Kazakh official said 38 people had been killed,

Flight was operating in an area where Moscow’s air defenses have battled Ukrainian drones in recent weeks.

Several passenger plane crashes have occurred worldwide this year, including a Wednesday morning Azerbaijan Airlines wreck that has left dozens feared dead.

A passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia with 67 people on board crashed in Kazakhstan Wednesday, authorities said.

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash on Christmas Day has prompted speculation the plane was shot down by Russia after it took a detour of hundreds of miles in the wrong direction and crash-landed with holes in the fuselage.

Flight was operating in an area where Moscow’s air defenses have battled Ukrainian drones in recent weeks.

Tengrinews.kz - The Ministry for Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan published the names of its citizens who died in the plane crash near Aktau. Among the dead was a young dentist Salima Jutaeva.

Russia launched a huge Christmas Day attack on Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones. The Russian attack wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governors there said.

The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet was en route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in Russia. The plane went down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after being diverted due to fog. There were 62 passengers and five crew members on board the plane, Kazakhstan's transport ministry said.