by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff
Dushanbe, Tajikistan (Worthy News) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly admitted that Russian air defenses were responsible for downing an Azerbaijani passenger jet last December, killing 38 people, in what analysts say marks a stunning acknowledgment that further erodes Moscow’s standing among former Soviet republics.
Speaking Thursday alongside Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Putin said missiles launched by Russian forces had detonated near an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet after Russian radar detected incoming Ukrainian drones over southern Russia.
“The two missiles that were launched did not hit the plane directly… but exploded a few meters away, about 10 meters,” Putin said, adding that debris from the missiles caused catastrophic damage. “It is our duty to give an objective assessment of everything that happened and to identify the true causes.”
The aircraft, en route from Baku to Grozny, attempted to make an emergency landing in western Kazakhstan but crashed near Aktau, killing 38 of the 67 passengers and crew on board.
Putin pledged to punish those responsible and compensate the victims’ families. The admission follows nearly a year of denials and contradictory explanations from Moscow, which initially blamed a flock of birds and a gas cylinder explosion.
Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev had accused Russia of trying to conceal its role in the disaster, calling those explanations “foolish and dishonest.” On Thursday, however, he thanked Putin for taking “personal control” of the investigation, saying he hoped both countries could “turn the page” and rebuild trust.
The crash sparked outrage in Azerbaijan and strained diplomatic ties between the two nations, further underscoring Russia’s diminishing influence across the post-Soviet sphere as its war in Ukraine drains resources and weakens alliances.
Last year, Moscow failed to prevent renewed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to broker a peace deal between the two neighbors–another blow to Russia’s regional authority.
The downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight marks the second major aviation tragedy linked to Russian missiles since the 2014 destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, which killed all 298 people aboard.
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