For First Time, Putin Says Russian Air Defence Responsible For Azerbaijan December Jet Crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin

For the first time, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that his air defence had shot Azerbaijani jetliner in December last year year that killed 38 people.

Associated Press quoted Putin as saying that the missiles fired by Russian air defenses to target a Ukrainian drone exploded near the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku as it was preparing to land in Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on December 25, 2024.

Speaking during a meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe, Putin vowed to punish those responsible and provide compensation.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan had said their jet was hit accidentally by Russia and when it tried to land in western Kazakhstan it crashed and killed 38 of 67 people aboard.

Days after the crash, Putin had apologised to Aliyev calling it a “tragic accident”. However, he stopped short of acknowledging responsibility, CNN reported. Aliyev had then slammed Russia for trying to “hush up” the incident.

On Thursday, CNN quoted Putin as saying that Russian air defenses that targeted a Ukrainian drone fired on the Azerbaijani airliner because of a “technical malfunction,” adding that two missiles exploded just 10 meters (33 feet) away from the passenger jet.

“The Russian side will obviously do everything to provide compensation and give legal assessment to all responsible officials’ action,” he said.

“Of course, these words related to this tragedy, aimed at supporting –morally supporting – the families do not solve the main problem: We can’t bring back to life those who died as a result of the tragedy,” he further said.

“I hope that our cooperation not only will be restored, but continue in the spirit of our relations, the spirit of our alliance,” Putin added.

In response, Aliyev welcomed Putin for investigating the cause of the plane’s downing.

“I would like to thank you for keeping the situation under your personal control,” he said.