Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday formally acknowledged his country’s responsibility for downing an Azerbaijani commercial flight in December of last year, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Speaking at a meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Putin said Russian air defenses shot down Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 while trying to target Ukrainian drones in Russian airspace. He blamed a “technical malfunction” for the misfire.
The admission came during a meeting of former Soviet nations in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Putin apologized to Aliyev, a longtime ally, in the days following the crash but did not acknowledge the Russian military’s role in the shootdown until this week.
“The Russian side will obviously do everything to provide compensation and give legal assessment to all responsible officials’ action,” Putin said Thursday, according to the Associated Press. “Of course, these words related to this tragedy, aimed at supporting—morally supporting—the families do not solve the main problem. We can’t bring back to life those who died as a result of the tragedy.”
Wrong Target
Flight 8243, operated using an Embraer E190, departed from Baku, Azerbaijan, on December 25, 2024, bound for Grozny in the Russian republic of Chechnya. According to Azerbaijan’s version of events, Russian surface-to-air missiles exploded near the aircraft, spraying shrapnel into its fuselage and wings and badly damaging its hydraulic system.
The flight redirected toward Kazakhstan and attempted to land at Aktau International Airport (UATE). Unable to land on their first attempt, the pilots initiated a go-around but lost control of the airplane. The jet hit the ground, exploded, and broke apart.
Both pilots and a flight attendant were killed, along with 35 passengers, mostly seated near the front of the aircraft. Twenty-nine people survived.
In the days after the incident, Russia said Ukrainian drones had been flying around Grozny, which is within its airspace. Ukraine’s military has launched exploding drones deep into Russia in retaliation for Russia’s ground invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Targets have included military bases, radar systems, arms factories, freight trains, oil refineries, and even the Kremlin complex in Moscow.
Russia’s reluctance to take full responsibility for the crash strained relations with Azerbaijan, traditionally a close ally. In December, Aliyev accused the Russian government of attempting to “hush up” the incident and demanded a full admission of guilt, together with punishment of those responsible and compensation for families of the victims.
On Thursday, however, he thanked Putin for “keeping the situation under your personal control.”
It is not clear if anyone in the Russian military has faced a reprimand or criminal charges for the shootdown.
