At a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Vladimir Putin admitted that the Russian air defense system fired two missiles at the AZAL plane due to Ukrainian drones that were in the sky. According to him, the two fired missiles exploded a few meters from the passenger plane. It was hit by debris, not by striking combat elements, Putin announced a new version, noting that he himself was informed about the causes of the plane crash the day before yesterday, after a detailed investigation of the incident.
He also expressed "the most sincere condolences" to the families of those who died in the plane crash and stated that Russia will pay compensation and also provide a legal assessment of the actions of all officials in connection with the crash of the AZAL plane.
The disaster occurred on December 25, 2024, the Embraer E190 of AZAL, en route to Azerbaijan, crashed in the Aktau area. 38 people died, 29 survived. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev blamed the Russian side for the incident. Later, Vladimir Putin apologized for the incident that occurred in Russian airspace. However, earlier Russia denied that it had shot down a civilian plane.
Photo: TASS