The White House said Friday there were "early indications" that Russian air defenses downed an Azerbaijan Airlines flight in Kazakhstan.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the evidence in the Azerbaijan Airlines crash goes beyond widely circulated images of the wreckage.

A White House official said the US has seen "early indications" that the fatal crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane was caused by a Russian air defense system. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that the US has "seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded in Russia's Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow's army.

The United States has said that North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine on the side of Russia in Kursk Oblast are committing suicide to avoid being captured by the Ukrainian defence forces. Source: White House representative John Kirby at a briefing on Friday,