Russia has taken responsibility for the downing of the Azerbaijan passenger aircraft last December, which resulted in the death of 38 people. Specifically, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted for the first time that Russian anti-aircraft systems were responsible for the incident, on Thursday (09/10) during his meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, on the sidelines of a regional summit. It should be noted that Putin assured that Moscow will pay compensation to survivors as well as to the families of victims, according to Euronews reports. It is emphasized that Putin’s statement in Dushanbe marks the first public assumption of responsibility by Russia for the downing. He argued that the incident was the result of a “tragic mistake by anti-aircraft forces” and added that disciplinary and criminal proceedings have begun.
Tragedy in Azerbaijan: 29 survivors from aircraft crash
It is recalled that on December 25, 2024, the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft operating the Baku-Grozny flight crashed in the Aktau region of Kazakhstan. The result of the tragedy was the death of 39 people, while 29 passengers survived, mainly thanks to the actions of the pilots, who were among the dead. It should be noted that government sources in Baku had told Euronews one day after the horrific incident that initial evidence showed a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the crash. According to the same sources, the missile was launched from a “Pantsir-S” system during drone operations over Grozny, and exploded near the passenger plane, injuring passengers and crew. Azerbaijani authorities also argued that the aircraft was not given permission to land at Russian airports, despite repeated requests from pilots for emergency landing. Instead, the aircraft was directed toward Kazakhstan, while GPS navigation systems had been jammed throughout the flight over the Caspian Sea.
Putin’s “rare and public apology”
Meanwhile, the Russian president had made a “rare public apology” to Aliyev in January 2025, expressing his condolences. However, he had not accepted responsibility. The Azerbaijani president had then accused Moscow of trying to “cover up” the incident. In July, Aliyev announced that Azerbaijan is preparing appeals to international courts against Russia, stating that the circumstances of the incident are “clear as day”. “We know what happened and we can prove it. And we know that Russian officials know it too”, he had said then.
