A CHILLING audio clip has emerged revealing the moment Russians shot down a passenger plane on Christmas that left 38 people dead.

New evidence suggests the Russians knew the object in the sky they were aiming at was not a Ukrainian drone.

Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190, carrying 67 passengers from Baku to Grozny in Russia, crashed after crossing the Caspian Sea in Aktau, Kazakhstan.

An investigation by the Azerbaijani government found that the plane was hit by a Russian Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile defence system.

Russians claimed the city of Grozny was under attack from Ukrainian drones at the time the plane was hit.

A chilling voice recording ordering the shooting of the plane was leaked to Azerbaijani media.

A person can be heard saying: “Hello! Azimuth 338, range 7,000, altitude 490, speed 118, heading 230.”

To which a person replies: “Yes, range is now 7. Fire! I said fire!”

The first person, understood to be operating the Russian air defence unit, then replies: “Fired!”

“Missed… Missed! Again! Fire once more,” the other person says

“Copy, firing,” said the operator before firing the fatal air defence rocket.

The voice reporting the coordinates was Captain Dmitry Paladichuk, a Russian air defence officer commanding a missile unit, it has been found.

The devastating exchange was leaked to the Azerbaijan outlet Minval amid deeply strained relations between Moscow and Baku.

A leak of handwritten testimony by Captain Paladichuk revealed a gripping account of how he was ordered by an unnamed commander to shoot.

In a sworn statement he said: “I was ordered by phone to destroy the target.”

He said: “At 08:13:30 I ordered the operator to engage. At 08:13:33 the missile cleared the launcher. At 08:13:47 the BM-72V6 [fire] control system reported a miss.

“At 08:13:48 I ordered a second engagement….

“The second missile was launched when the target had the following characteristics: azimuth 311°, distance 8,000 m, altitude 1,300 m, speed 120 m/s.”

The plane’s speed, around 265 mph, was more than double the speed of most drones.

Also, the altitude of the object – between 1,607ft and 4,265ft – indicated it was a plane seeking to land at a nearby airport.

“This suggests that the military had every indication that the object was a manned aircraft,” said the Insider independent media outlet analysing the leak from media in Azerbaijan.

Terrifying footage showed the Embraer aircraft nosediving before smashing into the ground in a fireball.

It exploded next to the aircraft, with the shrapnel hitting passengers and cabin crew, the report said.

Grozny is the capital of the region of Chechnya, controlled by a close Putin ally and warlord, Ramzan Kadyrov.

The use of air defence systems aligned with reports of Ukrainian drone attacks in Chechnya on the morning of Christmas Day.

It marked the second time in a decade that Russia has downed a passenger plane after the MH17 crash in Ukraine in 2014.

MIRACLE SURVIVORS

Dozens of passengers, including children, miraculously survived the horror crash.

Around 150 emergency responders rushed to the scene, battling towering flames and thick plumes of black smoke rising ominously into the sky.

Meanwhile, an investigative team led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan is working at the crash site.

They found the black box of the doomed flight which revealed the haunting final words the pilot said just moments before the plane crashed on the ground.

Struggling to control the plane, one of the pilots said: “I can’t execute, control is lost!”

The pilots reportedly tried to take the plane to three different airports but failed to land.

But they lost communication with the ground crew before vanishing off the radar for 37 minutes.

Footage emerged showing terrified passengers making final video calls and leaving messages as the aircraft began to plunge.

Distressed people on board can be seen jumping out of their seats as they try to make sense of the situation.

As the oxygen masks dangled in the air, some passengers started to scream in horror, while others called their loved ones and began praying.