White House sees ‘indications’ airliner was downed by Russia

Evidence suggests the Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day was brought down by Russia, the White House said Friday.

“We have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. He said the evidence went beyond widely circulated images of the damaged aircraft, but he did not provide details.