Putin admits Russian role in 2024 Azerbaijani jet crash, offers redress

Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted his country’s role in Azerbaijani passenger jet crash, that killed 38 people on 25th December 2024. Putin has told his Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev  that Moscow will compensate Azerbaijan for its part in accidentally downing an Azerbaijani passenger plane last year, which had damaged relations between the two countries. The Russian leader made the commitment on Thursday while meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. 
The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 was on a flight from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, when it was struck by Russian missiles and later crash-landed in western Kazakhstan. Of the 67 people on board, 38 lost their lives. Putin said two missiles had been launched to destroy Ukrainian drones, but they exploded just metres from the Azerbaijani plane. The Russian President described the incident tragic promising that Moscow would provide compensation and assess the actions of all officials involved in the incident. 
Baku authorities also accused Moscow of denying the distressed aircraft permission to land in Russian territory, forcing the failed landing attempt in Kazakhstan. Putin apologised for the “tragic incident” at the time but did not directly take responsibility on Russia’s behalf. Aliyev thanked Putin for monitoring the progress of an investigation into the deadly incident. “I would like to express my gratitude once again for the fact that you deemed it necessary to highlight this issue at our meeting,” Aliyev told the Russian president.