Putin admits Russian missiles caused 2024 Azerbaijan airlines crash that killed 38

Putin admits Russian missiles caused Azerbaijan plane crash that killed 38

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday officially acknowledged that the December 2024 crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, which killed 38 people, was caused by missiles launched from Russian territory.

Putin met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the 2nd Russia–Central Asia Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Citing Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency, Putin explained that the incident occurred when Russian missiles, deployed to track Ukrainian drones, detonated just a few meters from the civilian aircraft.

The flight, which departed Baku, Azerbaijan, on December 25, 2024, en route to Grozny, Russia, carried 67 people, including 62 passengers, two pilots, and three cabin crew. It crashed in Akatu, Kazakhstan, resulting in 38 fatalities.

Putin described the crash as a “tragedy” and assured that “Russia will do everything necessary in such tragic cases to provide compensation, and the actions of all officials will be legally assessed.”

Earlier, on December 28, Putin had spoken to Aliyev by phone and “apologised” for the incident, noting that Russian air defence systems had been active against Ukrainian drones but had not explicitly admitted responsibility for downing the aircraft.

“Russia was tracking three Ukrainian drones that crossed its border. Two air-defence missiles launched by Russia did not directly hit the AZAL aircraft, they detonated a few meters away. The plane was most likely damaged by fragments, not by the missiles’ warheads themselves,” Sputnik quoted Putin as saying.

(With agency inputs)