Price of AZAL tragedy: Russia and Azerbaijan agree on payouts for downed plane
Photo: Russia acknowledges responsibility for downed Azerbaijan’s AZAL plane (Getty Images)
Azerbaijan and Russia have agreed on compensation payments and a final settlement of the consequences of the AZAL airliner crash. The parties have officially acknowledged that the passenger aircraft was accidentally shot down by a Russian air defense system, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
Details of the agreement
According to the arrangements reached by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, the sides have fully resolved the consequences of the tragedy that occurred in late 2024.
A key element of the deal is the agreement on financial compensation, although the exact amount has not been disclosed.
Baku and Moscow confirmed that the Embraer 190 crashed "as a result of the unintentional action of an air defense system in the airspace of the Russian Federation."
"The steps taken confirm the mutual desire to further develop mutually beneficial cooperation within the framework of allied relations," the foreign ministries of both countries said.
Plane crash in Kazakhstan
On December 25, 2024, an AZAL passenger plane operating the Baku–Grozny route crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan.
A total of 38 people were killed in the crash, while dozens of others were injured and hospitalized.
Immediately after the tragedy, holes were found in the aircraft’s fuselage, indicating a possible strike from the ground. Later, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation noted that even in Russia, after reviewing the cockpit voice recordings, officials admitted that their own air defense system caused the crash.
