Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin admitted that Russian air defense missiles exploded near the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in late 2024.
He stated this at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan, Russian propaganda media reported.
At the same time, according to him, the plane was hit not by the combat elements of the missiles, but by debris.
At the same time, Putin never directly acknowledged Russiaʼs responsibility in the plane crash, stating that its causes were related to the fact that a Ukrainian drone was in the sky.
The Kremlin leader also said that the planeʼs crew was offered to land in Makhachkala, Russia, but apparently decided to fly to the base airport.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
What preceded
The plane crash occurred in Kazakhstan on the morning of December 25. The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which was flying from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Russia, changed its route several times and eventually crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau.
There were 67 people on board the plane, including five crew members. 38 people died in the crash.
According to Euronews sources in the Azerbaijani government, the cause of the plane crash was a Russian surface-to-air missile. The missile was allegedly launched from flight J2-8432 during drone activity over Grozny. The missile exploded during the flight, and its fragments hit the plane.
On December 27, Azerbaijan Airlines stated that, initially, the cause of the crash was "physical and technical external influence".
On December 28, Putin apologized for the "tragic incident" with the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, but did not directly take responsibility for the disaster.
In July 2025, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan was preparing documents for a lawsuit against Russia over the downing of the plane.
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