Details about the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane last Christmas, Vladimir Putin revealed during a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilkhan Aliyev. 

The Russian president said that “during our first telephone conversation after the crash, I not only apologized for the fact that the tragedy occurred in Russian airspace, but also expressed my most sincere condolences to the families of the victims.”

He went on to stress that the causes of the accident were linked, among other things, to the presence of a Ukrainian drone in Russian airspace at those critical moments. As he said, on this day three drones of the Ukrainian armed forces had crossed the Russian border.

“The second reason concerns technical failures in the Russian air defense system itself. The two missiles fired did not directly hit the plane. If that had happened, it would have crashed instantly. Instead, they exploded – probably self-destructing – a few meters away, about ten meters,” the Russian president said, clarifying that the aircraft was probably hit by debris and not by the munitions themselves.

Furthermore, he said that the AZAL crew had the opportunity to make a landing in Makhachkala, but the pilots decided to head, in the end, to their original destination.

Putin noted that the causes of the crash became clear after a thorough analysis of the incident, adding that Russia would also conduct a legal assessment of the actions of all relevant officials. “Everything required in such tragic cases will be done by the Russian side in terms of compensation,” he added.

The Russian president called it the duty of both countries to offer an objective assessment and announce the real causes of the crash, noting that a final resolution of the case would take time.

Moreover, he said that only the day before yesterday he was informed about the causes of the tragedy and made sure to communicate them to Aliyev.

It will be recalled that the aircraft of Azerbaijan Airlines crashed on the morning of December 25, 2024 near the city of Aktau, while flying from Baku to Grozny. According to the company, 62 passengers and five crew members were on board the Embraer-190. The accident killed 38 people and rescued 29.