Russia has promised to pay Azerbaijan compensation for the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane shot down in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024.
This was reported in a joint statement by the Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation.
In October, at a meeting in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev agreed to resolve issues arising from the plane crash.
According to the statement, the Azerbaijani plane crashed due to "unintentional impact of an air defense system in Russian airspace".
What is known about the plane crash?
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, crashed near the city of Aktau.
There were 67 people on board the plane, including five crew members. At least 38 of them died. According to Euronews sources, the Azerbaijani government at the time believed that the cause of the plane crash was a Russian surface-to-air missile. It was allegedly launched by flight J2-8432 during drone activity over Grozny. During the flight, the missile exploded, and its fragments hit the plane.
Two days after the accident, Azerbaijan Airlines announced the cause of the plane crash in Kazakhstan as "physical and technical external influence".
In July 2025, Aliyev said the country was preparing documents to sue Russia over the downing of the plane. He said it could take time, but Azerbaijan was prepared to wait decades.
Only in October 2025 did Putin admit that Russian air defense missiles had exploded next to the AZAL plane.
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