Putin admits Russian missiles downed Azerbaijani plane but blames Ukraine
Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
The Russian president, during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, effectively admitted that Russian air defense missiles shot down the AZAL passenger plane, TASS reports.
"Two missiles launched by Russia's air defense system did not directly hit the AZAL plane but exploded a few meters away," Putin said.
At the same time, he also noted that on the day of the AZAL plane tragedy, Russia was allegedly "tracking" three Ukrainian drones that crossed the Russian border that same day.
"Russia, in accordance with the agreements, is providing every possible assistance to the investigation into the crash of the Azerbaijani plane," the Kremlin leader added.
AZAL plane crash in Kazakhstan
On December 25, in the area of the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, an Embraer 190 passenger plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines crashed. It was flying from Baku to Grozny. It is known that 67 people were on board, including the crew. As a result of the crash, 38 people were killed.
According to media reports, in Grozny, where drones were being shot down that day, the plane may have been hit, preventing it from landing. As a result, the Embraer 190 crashed near Aktau. As Euronews writes, Azerbaijan confirmed that the cause of the plane crash was a Russian missile.
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the "tragic incident" involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. However, he did not admit that the aircraft had been shot down by the Russian side.
More details about the plane crash can be found in the RBC-Ukraine report.
