'Missile Caused Crash, Not...': Putin Admits Russian Forces Downed Azerbaijan Plane Killing 38

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Azerbaijan's leader that two Russian missiles had detonated beside an Azerbaijan Airlines plane last year after Ukrainian drones entered Russian airspace, leading to the deaths of 38 people. In what was the Kremlin leader's most candid admission to date that Moscow was to blame, he offered his apologies again to President Ilham Aliyev and promised compensation to those affected. Flight J2-8243, en route from Baku to Grozny, crash-landed on December 25 near Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported attacking several targets.

Video footage on Thursday showed Putin and Aliyev shaking hands and smiling before a bilateral meeting in Tajikistan, during which Putin discussed the plane crash.

Missiles And Debris Caused Fatal Damage

Putin explained that two Russian air defence missiles had detonated several metres away from the plane. “The two missiles that were launched did not hit the plane directly; if that had happened, it would have crashed on the spot, but they exploded, perhaps as a self-destruction measure, a few metres away, about 10 metres,” he said.

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“The damage was caused mainly not by the warheads, but most likely by debris from the missiles themselves. That is why the pilot perceived it as a collision with a flock of birds, which he reported to Russian air traffic controllers, and all this is recorded in the so-called ‘black boxes.’” The Embraer jet, badly damaged, flew another 280 miles across the Caspian Sea before crash-landing.

Investigation Continues, Aliyev Responds

Putin cautioned that it would “probably take some more time” to fully investigate the crash’s causes. A preliminary report published on a Kazakh government website in February found that the plane suffered external damage and was riddled with holes in its fuselage.

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Aliyev expressed frustration at initial reactions from Moscow, which he said sought to cover up the cause, but on Thursday, he thanked Putin for personally monitoring the investigation. “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 Putin.

(Note: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by The Daily Jagran and has been published through a syndicated feed. Source - Reuters)