BAKU, Dec 26 (Reuters) - An Azerbaijan Airlines flight

that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was downed by a Russian

air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of

the investigation told Reuters.

An Embraer ( ERJ ) passenger jet crashed near the city of

Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, after

diverting from an area of Russia in which Moscow has used air

defence systems against Ukrainian drone strikes in recent

months.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of

miles off its scheduled route from Azerbaijan's Baku to Grozny,

in Russia's Chechnya, to crash on the opposite shore of the

Caspian Sea, after what Russia's aviation watchdog said was an

emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.

Officials did not immediately explain why it had crossed the

sea, but the crash came after Ukrainian drone strikes this month

hit the Chechnya region of southern Russia. The nearest Russian

airport on the plane's flight path was closed on Wednesday

morning.

Russian, Azerbaijani and Kazakhstani officials have all

called for investigations into the crash.