Vladimir Putin has said that Russia’s air defences were to blame for downing an Azerbaijani jetliner in December that killed 38 people, his first admission of responsibility for the crash.
Putin said on Thursday that the missiles fired by Russia to target a Ukrainian drone exploded near the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku as it was preparing to land in Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on 25 December 2024. Ukrainian drones have regularly struck deep inside Russia.
Speaking at a meeting with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe, where both were attending a summit of the former Soviet nations, Putin pledged to punish those responsible and provide compensation.
Azerbaijani authorities had said the Embraer 190 jet was hit accidentally by Russian fire, then tried to land in western Kazakhstan, where it crashed and killed 38 of 67 people onboard.
Days after the crash, Putin apologized to Aliyev for what he called a “tragic incident” but stopped short of acknowledging responsibility. Aliyev, meanwhile, criticised Moscow for trying to “hush up” the incident.
The controversy over the crash has roiled the previously warm ties between Moscow and Baku. Their relations were further destabilised by deaths of ethnic Azerbaijanis rounded up by police in a Russian city in June and a series of arrests of Russians in Azerbaijan.
Speaking to Aliyev on Thursday, Putin said Russian air defences that had been targeting a Ukrainian drone fired on the Azerbaijani airliner because of a “technical malfunction”, adding that two missiles exploded just 10 metres (33 feet) away from the passenger jet.
He said: “The Russian side will obviously do everything to provide compensation and give legal assessment to all responsible officials’ action.
“Of course, these words related to this tragedy, aimed at supporting – morally supporting – the families do not solve the main problem: we can’t bring back to life those who died as a result of the tragedy.”
The Russian president voiced hope for overcoming the strain between the countries and fully rebuilding the ties. “I hope that our cooperation not only will be restored, but continue in the spirit of our relations, the spirit of our alliance,” he said.
Aliyev, for his part, thanked Putin for investigating the cause of the plane’s downing. “I would like to thank you for keeping the situation under your personal control,” he said.
The Azerbaijani leader said they had a chance to discuss a “broad and positive” bilateral agenda, voicing hope that “the messages we are sending today to our societies will meet a positive response”.
