Putin Acknowledges Russian Missiles’ Role in Fatal Crash of Azerbaijani Airlines Jet

On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin informed Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev that two Russian anti-aircraft missiles detonated mere meters from an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft prior to its crash last year. This statement marks the Kremlin leader’s first public acknowledgment of Russia’s involvement in the tragic incident.

The Azerbaijan Airlines flight, which was en route from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, vanished from radar on December 25 while flying near the Caspian Sea coast of Russia, ultimately crashing near Aktau in Kazakhstan, resulting in the deaths of 38 individuals on board among the 62 passengers and 5 crew members.

Russian officials had initially provided varying accounts of the catastrophe, first attributing it to poor visibility or a potential bird strike, and later stating that their air defense systems were targeting Ukrainian drones in the vicinity.

In February, Kazakhstan’s Transportation Ministry released a 53-page document that mentioned “external objects” impacting the aircraft and included images depicting the fuselage covered in holes. The findings indicated that the damage led to a loss of hydraulic fluid and pressure, which caused the failure of the stabilizer.

Russian civil aviation authorities reported that they had not been given complete access to the wreckage. An Azerbaijani government source revealed to Reuters that international experts had found a fragment of a Russian Pantsir-S anti-air rocket among the debris.

With the investigation into the crash drawing to a close, Putin conveyed to Aliyev that the incident was the result of a combination of Ukrainian drones penetrating Russian airspace and a fault in the air defense systems, which led to the detonation of two missiles near the plane.

“They exploded, possibly due to self-destruction, at a distance of approximately 10 meters (33 feet),” Putin stated during a meeting with the Azerbaijani leader in Tajikistan. He noted that the aircraft was primarily damaged by missile debris rather than direct impact from a warhead.

Putin asserted that had the aircraft been directly struck, it would have “immediately fallen.” He referenced cockpit recordings indicating that the pilot mistook the explosion for a bird strike and chose not to reroute to the nearby city of Makhachkala.

Putin pledged unspecified compensation for the victims’ families and promised a “legal assessment” of the actions taken by Russian officials during the incident.

Aliyev, who had previously held Russia accountable and sought responsibility, expressed gratitude to Putin for personally overseeing the inquiry, stating, “We had no doubt that it would thoroughly and objectively determine all the circumstances.”

Initially, as Russia attempted to evade responsibility for the tragedy, its relationship with Azerbaijan deteriorated. In response to the incident, Azerbaijan implemented several measures viewed as retaliation, including the closure of a Moscow-funded cultural center, prohibiting Russian officials from entering Azerbaijan due to “offensive” remarks, and shutting down Kremlin-funded media outlets operating in the country.