Putin admits Russian missiles exploded near downed Azerbaijani airliner

He stated this at a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in Tajikistan, as reported by Russian propaganda media.

However, according to him, the plane was hit not by the combat elements of the missiles, but by debris.

At the same time, Putin did not directly admit Russia's responsibility for the crash, stating that its causes were related to the presence of a Ukrainian drone in the sky.

The Kremlin leader also said that the plane's crew was offered to land in the Russian city of Makhachkala, but they allegedly decided to fly to their home airport.

Background

The plane crash occurred in Kazakhstan on the morning of December 25. The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to the city of Grozny in Russia, changed its route several times and eventually crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau.

There were 67 people on board, including five crew members. 38 people died in the crash.

According to Euronews sources in the Azerbaijani government, the cause of the crash was a Russian surface-to-air missile. The missile was allegedly fired at flight J2-8432 during drone activity over Grozny. The missile exploded in flight, and its fragments hit the plane.

On December 27, Azerbaijan Airlines stated that, preliminarily, the cause of the crash was "external physical and technical impact."

On December 28, Putin apologized for the "tragic incident" with the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, but did not directly take responsibility for the crash.

In July 2025, Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan was preparing documents for a lawsuit against Russia for the downing of the plane.