BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a new alert on Thursday warning non-European carriers not to fly within western Russia airspace due to the risk of being unintentionally targeted by its air defence systems.

Rosaviatsia, Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport, has tried to address the issue of maintaining passenger aircraft by allowing airlines to "cannibalize" its planes by removing serviceable spare parts from some airliners to install them on others.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned airlines to steer clear of several cities in Russia following the fatal crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet that was likely shot down by Russian forces.

Russia's Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg temporarily halted flight arrivals and departures from 7:45 a.m. (0445 GMT) on Saturday to ensure the safety of civilian aircraft, Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.

Ukraine has targeted Russian infrastructure with considerable success since the start of the war almost three years ago.

In the crash’s aftermath, Azerbaijan has unleashed rare and stinging criticism of Russia, with the country’s president saying Moscow’s response has caused “surprise, regret and rightful indignation.”

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally shooting down an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause.

Russian authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Volga River port city of Engels as a huge fire, caused by a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack, rages unchecked. The strike was on the strategically important fuel storage tank farm for Engels Air Base,

Experts say evidence in the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan points to a possible midair explosion, not an encounter with a flock of birds.

Matt Borie, chief intelligence officer for aviation security firm Osprey Flight Solutions, joins NewsNation's "Elizabeth Vargas Reports" to discuss early indications from U.S. officials that a Russian anti-aircraft system downed an Azerbaijan Airlines ...

Russia's aviation watchdog said on Friday that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane which crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday had decided to reroute from its original destination in Chechnya

Azerbaijan Airlines and other carriers have suspended flights to several destinations in Russia after it emerged that Russian air defenses may have caused the crash of one of the Azeri carrier's Embraer 190s on Dec. 25.