On October 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced for the first time details of the series of events leading to the aviation tragedy that killed 38 people by the end of 2024. He affirmed that the root cause originated from the incident of Ukrainian UAVs entering Russian airspace on fateful nights.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane crash on December 25, 2024 was the result of a series of rare incidents, starting with the intrusion of 3 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into Russian airspace.
Speaking at a bilateral meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan on October 9, Mr. Putin said: "After the Russian air defense system monitored 3 UAVs crossing the border during the tragic night, one of them was still operating in the air at the time the civil plane was hit."
According to him, the second reason comes from a technical error in the Russian air defense system, when two missiles were launched but did not hit the plane directly.
The missiles may have self-deployed at a distance of 10 meters from the plane, and it is very likely that the Embraer 190 was hit by debris rather than shrapnel from the interceptor missile, Putin explained.
The Russian leader stressed that if the plane hit a piece of flared bullet directly, the damage would be immediately destructive, not a minor collision that the crew initially thought it was caused by a bird.
According to initial investigation data, flight number AZAL 8243 was en route from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Moscow when it encountered an air accident near the city of Grozny (Russia). The crew tried to change direction, but the Embraer 190 eventually crashed near Aktau (Kazakhstan).
The tragedy killed 38 people and injured 29 others, making it the worst air accident in the history of Azerbaijani civil aviation.
Following the incident, many speculations have been raised about the possibility of the plane being mistakenly shot in the context of escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as well as simmering disagreements in the South Caucus region.
Mr. Putin affirmed that Russia will be held humanely and legally responsible, including paying compensation to the victims' families and considering the legal responsibility of those involved in the series of errors.
All the details need to be fully analyzed, and we will ensure that we fulfill all our obligations, he said.
For his part, President Ilham Aliyev thanked the Russian leader for "clearing the cause of the incident" and expressed confidence that the investigation would be conducted objectively and comprehensively.
Azerbaijan has previously said it is preparing to file a lawsuit against Russia, arguing that Russia's air defense system "accidentally" caused disasters. Although Moscow has repeatedly expressed its condolences, bilateral relations between the two countries still fell into a cold period after the incident.
The Russian Federal Investigative Committee is still coordinating with international civil aviation authorities to analyze radar, black box and missile debris before making a final report.
