Putin admits Russian air defences downed Azerbaijan Airlines plane in 2024 that killed 38

Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted on Thursday that Russia's air defences were responsible for shooting down an Azerbaijani passenger aircraft in December that killed 38 people, in his first public admission of blame for the crash.

Putin made the statement at a meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, where both are attending a regional summit, where he promised to pay compensation to those affected.

The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on 25 December 2024 in Kazakhstan's Aktau while en route from Baku to Chechnya's Grozny. A total of 29 people on board survived largely thanks to the heroics of the pilots, who were among the 38 casualties.

Azerbaijani government sources exclusively confirmed to Euronews a day after the crash that, according to their findings at the time, a Russian surface-to-air missile was understood to be the cause of the plane's crash in Aktau.

According to the sources, the missile was fired at Flight 8432 during drone air activity above Grozny and the shrapnel hit the passengers and cabin crew as it exploded next to the aircraft mid-flight.

The missile was fired from a Pantsir-S air defence system, Baku-based international outlet AnewZ reported.

Government sources told Euronews that the damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Kazakhstan.

According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.

Last year, Putin issued a rare public apology to Aliyev for what he called a "tragic incident" but stopped short of acknowledging responsibility.

Aliyev had previously criticised Moscow for trying to "hush up" the incident.

In July, Aliyev announced that Azerbaijan was preparing to file lawsuits in international courts against Russia regarding the crash, saying the circumstances behind it were "as clear as day."

He criticised the lack of a meaningful response from Russia to the incident.

"We know what happened and we can prove it. And we know that Russian officials know what happened," Aliyev said in July.