ALMATY, Kazakhstan: A Russia-bound Azerbaijani jet which crashed in Kazakhstan in December had probably been damaged by “external objects” before it hit the ground, an investigation said on Tuesday.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly said that the plane was accidently shot at from the ground by Russian air defence in the December 25 incident that killed 38 of the 67 people onboard.

But Kazakhstan, one of Russia´s closest allies, has not directly blamed Moscow.

The preliminary report released on Tuesday did not identify the reason why the plane went off course. The Central Asian country´s transport ministry published a 53-page report in which it referred to “external objects” and included photographs of the plane being riddled with holes. Kazakhstan is heading the investigation as the crash happened on its territory.

According to its probe, the crew had reported to air traffic control in Russia´s city of Grozny about losing a GPS signal and shortly later lost control of the plane.

It said that the plane had “various shapes and size of damage in the tail section” and “similar damage was found on the left engine and left wing of the aircraft.”