By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia will do everything necessary to provide compensation for an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane crash in Kazakhstan late last year.
“Of course, everything that is required in such cases, in such tragic cases, will be done on the Russian side in terms of compensation,” Putin said during a bilateral meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe, according to the Kremlin.
Opening the talks in the Tajik capital, where the two leaders will participate in a meeting of the Head of State Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States on Friday, Putin recalled his apology over the incident that had taken place in Russian airspace.
Putin said that Russia is providing every possible assistance to the investigation into the plane crash in December last year, noting it will also provide a legal assessment of the actions of all officials in connection with it.
He noted that the investigation is nearing completion, going on to link the crash in part to the presence of Ukrainian drones in Russian airspace on the night of the incident.
The Russian president cited the second factor for the crash as "technical failures" of his country's air defense system, explaining that the two missiles fired by Moscow at the time did not hit the plane directly, but rather exploded several meters from it.
"So the damage occurred, but not primarily from the warheads, but most likely from debris from the missiles themselves," he indicated.
For his part, Aliyev thanked Putin for personally overseeing the investigation into the crash, and expressed that they had "no doubt" that it would resolve everything objectively.
Baku and Moscow entered a “difficult period” in bilateral relations, as described by the Kremlin in July, notably after an AZAL plane crashed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, 2024, killing 38 of the 67 passengers and crew members on board.
Putin spoke on the phone with Aliyev three days after the crash, offering condolences and apologizing for the incident having taken place in Russian airspace.
In an interview with state TV channel AzTV a day later, Aliyev accused Russia of unintentionally shooting down the plane, urging Moscow to accept responsibility, punish those responsible, and provide compensation.
Aliyev said in July that Baku would "apply to international justice" regarding the plane crash and had also informed Russia of this. In response, the Kremlin said it is Azerbaijan's right if it decides to file a lawsuit against Moscow, and that Russia “will wait for official verdicts.”