Putin admits Russian missiles downed Azerbaijani plane, killing 38

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that Russian air defences had shot down an Azerbaijani plane in December last year that killed 38 people.

In what was his first admission of blame for the tragic crash, Putin told Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe that Russian missiles had detonated beside the ill-fated plane after Ukrainian drones entered Moscow’s airspace.

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Putin also offered compensation for the shooting down of the Azerbaijani airliner.

“Of course, everything that is required in such tragic cases will be done by the Russian side on compensation and a legal assessment of all official things will be given,” Putin told Aliyev.

The Russian leader said that it was his duty “to give an objective assessment of everything that happened and to identify the true causes.”

At least 38 people were killed after Flight J2-8243, en route from Baku to Grozny, crash-landed near Aktau in Kazakhstan on December 25.

Following the incident, the plane tried to land in Kazakhstan but crashed, killing 38 of the 67 people aboard.

In a rare gesture, Putin had apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev but didn’t take the blame.