Putin Apologized To Aliyev

• 9.10.2025, 15:21

The head of the Russian Federation acknowledged responsibility for the AZAL plane shot down over Grozny.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Thursday, actually acknowledged Russia's responsibility for the crash of an AZAL airliner last December. He said that "the tragedy with the plane occurred in the skies over Russia," citing Ukrainian drones in the sky as one of the causes of the crash, RIA Novosti reported.

The Russian president said that on the day of the tragedy, three Ukrainian drones entered Russian territory and two missiles fired by Russian air defense forces exploded a few meters away from the plane, which was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members, rather than "hitting it directly." The airliner was hit "most likely by debris, not by striking warheads," Putin said.

Putin also reminded Aliyev that he had already apologized to him for the tragedy occurring in Russian skies. He expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the crash of the airliner, which was hit in the skies above Grozny and then crashed in Kazakhstan. The crew of the Azerbaijani airliner "was offered to land in Makhachkala," Putin said, but, according to him, the pilots decided to go to the base airport.

Russia will give a legal assessment of the actions of all officials in connection with the crash of the AZAL plane, the Russian president emphasized.