Putin admits to Russia’s role in 2024 Azerbaijani plane crash that killed 38

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Thursday for the first time that Russia played a role in the 2024 crash of an Azerbaijani passenger plane.

Published on: Oct 9, 2025, 20:11:12 IST

By HT News Desk

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Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that Russia played a role in the 2024 crash of an Azerbaijani passenger plane. He called the plane crash a “tragedy”, ten months after the plane crash killed 38 people.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe on October 9, 2025. (AFP)

Putin made the statement at a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev in Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe, where both leaders are attending a summit of Soviet Nations.

Speaking with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Putin said that Russian missiles had been deployed to intercept Ukrainian drones that day and the drones detonated few "meters away" from the aircraft.

Aliyev, however, criticized Moscow for attempting to “hush up” the incident.

Putin also said that Russia would take all necessary steps needed to provide adequate compensation and it will be ensure that action of the officials are legally reviewed.

The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on December 25, 2024, on its way from Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

Azerbaijani authorities said the jet was accidentally hit by fire from Russian air defenses, and it then attempted to land in western Kazakhstan when it crashed, killing 38 of 67 people aboard.

The controversy over the crash had soured the previously warm ties between Moscow and Baku.

Their relations further deteriorated after the deaths of ethnic Azerbaijanis, who were rounded up by police in a Russian city in June and a series of arrests of Russians in Azerbaijan.

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HT News Desk
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