Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday formally acknowledged that Russia’s air defence systems were responsible for the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet on December 25, 2024, which killed 38 of the 67 people on board. This marks his first public admission of responsibility for the crash, which occurred when Russian missiles, launched to intercept Ukrainian drones, exploded just meters away from the civilian aircraft.

Speaking during a bilateral meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on the sidelines of a former Soviet nations’ summit, Putin stated that two Russian air defence missiles detonated near the Embraer 190 aircraft as it approached Grozny, Chechnya. He clarified that the missiles did not directly hit the plane but caused fatal damage through shrapnel. “The plane was most likely damaged by fragments, not by the missiles’ warheads themselves,” Putin said, citing Russia’s Sputnik news agency.

Putin pledged that Russia would provide compensation to the victims’ families and ensure a legal review of the actions of responsible officials. “Russia will do everything necessary in such tragic cases to provide compensation, and the actions of all officials will be legally assessed,” he said, calling the incident a “tragedy”.

The crash had severely strained relations between Moscow and Baku, with Aliyev previously accusing Russia of attempting to “hush up” the incident. Initial Russian claims of a bird strike were dismissed by Azerbaijani authorities, who had quickly concluded the plane was struck by Russian fire. The relationship was further damaged by the June deaths of ethnic Azerbaijanis in a Russian city and reciprocal arrests.

Aliyev welcomed Putin’s detailed explanation, thanking him for keeping the situation under personal control. He expressed hope that bilateral ties would not only be restored but strengthened, saying, “The messages we are sending today to our societies will meet a positive response”.

Putin expressed hope for reconciliation, stating, “I hope that our cooperation not only will be restored, but continue in the spirit of our relations, the spirit of our alliance”.

With inputs from PTI