MOSCOW, Oct 09 (AFP): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday admitted for the first time his country played a role in the 2024 crash of an Azerbaijani passenger plane, describing it as a "tragedy".
The Azerbaijan Airlines flight crash landed in Kazakhstan on December 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, after being diverted from a scheduled landing in the southern Russian city of Grozny.
In a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Putin said Russia had deployed two missiles to destroy Ukrainian drones on the morning of the incident, and that they exploded "a few meters away" from the aircraft.
"The two missiles that were fired did not directly hit the aircraft. If that had happened, it would have crashed on the spot," Putin said.
Putin admits Russian role in 2024 crash of Azerbaijani passenger jet
FE Team | Published: October 09, 2025 23:27:14
Putin admits Russian role in 2024 crash of Azerbaijani passenger jet
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