Putin meets with Azerbaijani president, explains how Russian missiles shot down Azerbaijani passenger plane
Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe for the first time in nearly a year, beginning the meeting by explaining how Russian missiles struck an Azerbaijani passenger plane in December 2024.
Source: Russian state-owned media outlets reporting on the meeting between Aliyev and Putin
Details: Putin said that Russian air defence missiles in December 2024 did not directly hit the AZAL plane but "exploded a few metres away from it".
He claimed the missiles had been launched to shoot down Ukrainian drones.
Quote from Putin: "The second reason is technical, related to the Russian air defence system itself. The two missiles that were launched did not directly hit the plane – if they had, it would have crashed immediately – but exploded about 10 metres away."
Details: Aliyev said he had no doubt that the investigation, which Putin is personally overseeing, would objectively determine the causes of the AZAL plane crash.
Background:
- On 25 December 2024, an Embraer aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines flying from Baku to Grozny crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.
- On 29 December 2024, Aliyev stated that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was attacked from the ground over Russian territory. He also demanded that Russia admit guilt and pay compensation.
- Putin phoned Aliyev several times in December 2024 to discuss the crash.
- On 28 December, during a telephone conversation with Aliyev, Putin apologised for the "tragic incident" with the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft in Russian airspace but did not acknowledge Russia's guilt.
- In July, Aliyev announced that Azerbaijan was preparing documents to file a case against Russia in international courts over the Azerbaijan Airlines crash near Aktau.
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