ASTANA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - An Azerbaijani passenger plane

that crashed in December after being diverted from Russia to

Kazakhstan had suffered damage "probably caused by external

objects," according to a preliminary report published on a

Kazakh government website on Tuesday.

Thirty-eight people were killed when the Azerbaijan Airlines

passenger plane crashed on Dec. 25 near the city of Aktau in

Kazakhstan after diverting across the Caspian Sea from southern

Russia.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said in December the

plane had been damaged by accidental shooting from the ground in

Russia. Moscow has not confirmed this.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had issued a rare apology

to Aliyev for the "tragic incident" in Russian airspace. But a

Kremlin statement did not say Russia had fired at the plane,

only noting that a criminal case had been opened.

The plane had been flying from Baku to Grozny in southern

Russia, where the Kremlin said Ukrainian drones had been

attacking several cities at the time.

Tuesday's report, posted on the website of the Kazakh

Transport Ministry, said damage to the aircraft included its

hydraulic system.

Photographs showed the port side of the tail section was

riddled with holes. Also pictured in the report were small

fragments that it described as "foreign metal objects" removed

from the left stabiliser and hydraulic system of the plane.

"To determine the nature and origin of the puncture damage

caused by foreign objects, appropriate studies and examinations

will be carried out," the report said.

Twenty-nine people survived the crash-landing in Kazakhstan.

Aliyev has hailed the pilots, who died, as national heroes. The

Azerbaijani leader has said that blame lies with Russian

individuals, and that Baku demands justice.

Russia says it has assigned its own investigation to the

most experienced experts and that actions are being taken to

establish the cause and circumstances of the incident.

After the crash, the plane's black box flight recorders were

sent to be examined in Brazil, where the Embraer E190

passenger jet was manufactured.