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| Tajikistan Russia. |
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, October 9 that Russian air defenses were responsible for the downing of an Azerbaijani jetliner in December 2024 that killed 38 people.
This marks his first explicit admission of responsibility for the crash, which appears to be an effort to ease tensions between the two neighboring countries.
Putin explained that missiles fired by Russian air defenses which were targeting a Ukrainian drone exploded near the Azerbaijan Airlines plane.
The jet, which was flying from Baku, was preparing to land in Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya republic, on December 25, 2024. Ukrainian drones have routinely carried out strikes deep inside Russian territory.
Speaking at a meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe, Putin pledged to punish those responsible and provide compensation for the victims. Both leaders were in Dushanbe to attend a summit of former Soviet nations.
Azerbaijani authorities had previously stated that the jet was accidentally hit by Russian air defense fire. The plane attempted to land in western Kazakhstan but crashed, killing 38 of the 67 people aboard.While Putin offered an apology for the "tragic incident" days after the crash, he had previously stopped short of explicitly admitting responsibility. Aliyev, in turn, had criticized Moscow for attempting to "hush up" the incident. The controversy over the crash has significantly strained the previously warm relations between Moscow and Baku.