Select Language:
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech during the All-Russian Municipal Service Award ceremony in Moscow on April 21, 2025, as captured in this photo.
On Thursday, Putin publicly acknowledged for the first time Moscow’s involvement in the 2024 crash of an Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, calling it a “tragedy.” The plane, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, was diverted from its scheduled landing in the southern Russian city of Grozny and crash-landed in Kazakhstan on December 25, resulting in the deaths of 38 out of 67 onboard.
In a discussion with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Putin stated that Russia had launched two missiles to intercept Ukrainian drones earlier that morning, which exploded a few meters from the aircraft. He clarified, “The two missiles fired didn’t directly strike the plane. If they had, it would have crashed immediately.”
He further explained that Russian air traffic controllers instructed the pilot to attempt a landing in Makhachkala, Russia, but instead, the pilot tried to land at their home airport and subsequently in Kazakhstan, where the aircraft ultimately came down.
Putin assured that Russia would do everything necessary to provide compensation in such tragic cases and emphasized that the actions of all officials involved would be subject to legal review.
Previously, Azerbaijani authorities accused Russia of concealing the true cause of the crash. This week, Aliyev expressed gratitude to Putin for sharing detailed information about the incident, according to the Kremlin’s statement.
Initial reports from Russia’s air transport agency suggested that a bird strike forced the plane, an Embraer 190, to divert from its original course.
The incident significantly strained Russia’s relationship with Azerbaijan, a resource-rich former Soviet republic that has maintained close ties with Moscow.
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Gemini AI
Grok AI
