Vladimir Putin has finally admitted his military’s role in the Azerbaijan plane crash following accusations from Baku that Moscow tried to ‘cover up’ the tragedy
Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia was responsible for the crash of a doomed Azerbaijani plane that killed 38 people on Christmas Day – after earlier denials from Moscow.
The Russian president said his country’s air defenses targeted a Ukrainian drone when they accidentally fired near the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane. He added that two missiles exploded just 10 meters from the plane and called it a “technical failure”.
Putin’s first public admission of responsibility – made during talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev – appeared to be an attempt to calm rising tensions between the neighbors after the tragedy.
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The plane, flying from Baku, was preparing to land in Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, when it crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. Putin vowed to punish those responsible and provide compensation at a summit of former Soviet countries in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe on Thursday.
“The Russian side will of course do everything to provide compensation and provide a legal assessment of the actions of all responsible officials,” he said. “Of course, these words related to this tragedy, aimed at supporting – morally supporting – the families do not solve the main problem: we cannot bring back to life those who died as a result of the tragedy.”
Aliyev told Putin: “I want to thank you for keeping the situation under your personal control.” The Azerbaijani president had previously accused Moscow of trying to “hush up” the incident.
Authorities in Baku had claimed that the Embraer 190 plane was accidentally hit by Russian fire before attempting to make an emergency landing in western Kazakhstan. Putin apologized to Aliyev at the time for what he called a “tragic incident” but took no responsibility, while other Kremlin officials flatly denied any involvement.
The crash has rocked ties between Moscow and Baku, already strained following the deaths of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russian police custody in June and a series of arrests of Russians in Azerbaijan. “I hope that our cooperation will not only be restored, but will continue in the spirit of our relations, the spirit of our alliance,” Putin said.
In turn, Aliyev said he hoped their messages and talks about a bilateral agenda in both countries “will generate a positive response.” Relations with Baku have become increasingly important for the Kremlin since the 2022 large-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Azerbaijan serves as a key transport corridor for Russian trade with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.
Turkey, Azerbaijan’s close ally, has also become a key economic lifeline for Russia, which has been hit by a barrage of Western sanctions. Meanwhile, Russia remains the main market for Azerbaijani fruit and vegetable exports and is home to a large Azerbaijani diaspora.
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