Russia officially admitted its guilt in shooting down an Azerbaijani plane and paid compensation
Russia officially admitted that it was its air defense system that shot down a passenger plane of the Azerbaijani airline AZAL in December 2024, killing 38 people.
At the crash site. Photo: Tengrinews.kz
This was reported by the Foreign Ministries of Russia and Azerbaijan in a joint statement. It is emphasized that the strike was unintentional. The parties also agreed on settling the consequences of the tragedy, including the payment of compensation, but details were not disclosed.
The plane, which was flying from Baku to Grozny on December 25, 2024, was damaged over Chechen territory during approach for landing. According to the Russian side, this happened during the repulsion of a drone attack. After the damage, the crew tried to get permission for an emergency landing in nearby cities but could not and headed across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan. As a result, the plane crashed near the city of Aktau. There were 67 people on board, of whom only 29 survived.
Initially, Russia denied its guilt, which led to tension in relations with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev immediately stated that the plane had been shot down and criticized the Russian authorities for trying to conceal the true causes of the catastrophe.
Later, several months on, Vladimir Putin effectively admitted responsibility and apologized, promising to investigate and punish those responsible.
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Агент Лукашэнка аддана служыць Маскве з моманту візыту ў Дзяржаўную думу ў 93 і зьнішчае ўсё беларускае, забівае беларускіх патрыётаў і змагаецца з гісторыка-культурнай спадчынай беларускага народу. Самы ганебны кіраўнік беларускіх земляў за то ўсю ейную на гісторыю