Putin spoke openly about Russia's guilt in the case of killing dozens of civilians. “An objective evaluation”

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his counterpart Azer Ilham Aliev on Thursday that two Russian anti -aircraft missiles exploded a few meters from the Azerbaijan Airlines line plane in December 2024, after Ukrainian drones had entered Russia's air space, and promised the AFP.

Video images transmitted on Thursday shows Putin and Aliev clasing their hands and smiling before the meeting they had in Dusanbe, in Tadjikistan, and in which the Russian leader spoke about the collapse of the plane.

Flight J2-8243 on the Baku-Groznâi route, the capital of the Republic of Chechnya in the Russian Caucasus, collapsed on December 25th near Aktau, in Kazakhstan, after initially trying to land at the destination, but was redirected from the route in southern Russia, where the Ukrainian attacks were reported.

The tragedy, in which 38 people died, caused a tension of the relationships between Russia and Azerbaijan, notes Agerpres.

Last year, Putin issued public apologies to Aliev for what the Kremlin called a “tragic incident” in which the plane collapsed after the Russian anti -aircraft defense was carried out against Ukrainian drones.

Little invokes “rocket fragments”

On Thursday, Putin went more and far. “Of course, everything that must be done in such tragic cases will be done by the Russian part regarding the compensation and a legal evaluation of all official aspects will be given,” Putin told Azer.

“It is our duty, I repeat again (…) Let's give an objective evaluation of everything that has happened and to identify the true causes,” said the Kremlin leader.

The Russian president explained that the anti -aircraft defense was in action on the day of the tragedy due to the presence of Ukrainian drones above the city of Groznâi.

“The two (Russian) missiles that were pulled did not hit the plane directly (…), but they exploded, maybe by self -destruction, a few meters, about 10 meters,” Putin said, in the meeting with Aliev in Dusanbe.

“That is why destruction occurred, not by combat elements, but rather by rocket fragments,” he added.

Ilham Aliev was pleased with Vladimir Putin because he “personally follows this case”, and welcomed the “positive evolution” of the relations between Moscow and Baku.

Azerbaijani president, initially angry

The Embraer aircraft flew from Baku to Groznâi, in Chechen, where the incident was produced, after which he flew, damaged, 450 km over the Caspian Sea and collapsed in western Kazakhstan. Of the 67 people on board, 38 have lost their lives.

Aliev was angry because of the collapse of the plane and publicly criticized Moscow's initial reactions, which he said were trying to cover the cause of the incident.

Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan later have a cooling.

The Azere authorities closed the offices of a Russian state of state in Azerbaijan and proceeded to arrest Russian citizens.

Russia, in turn, proceeded to arrest among the Azer diaspora.

The Thursday meeting in Dusanbe was the first of Putin and Aliev since the drama.