Azerbaijan wants Russia to admit to passenger plane accident

20/7/2025 6:05

Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, on Saturday said he wanted Russia to publicly acknowledge that it had accidentally shot down an Azerbaijani passenger plane in December last year, killing 38 people on board, and to punish those responsible.



President Vladimir Putin apologised at the time to Aliyev for what the Kremlin called a "tragic incident" over Russia in which an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after Russian air defences opened fire against Ukrainian drones.



But he stopped short of saying Russia had shot down the aircraft.



Aliyev, speaking at a news conference in the city of Khankendi during an event called The Global Media Forum, made clear that he wanted much more from Moscow whom he accused of inaction following the downing of the airliner.



“We know exactly what happened — and we can prove it. Moreover, we are confident that Russian officials also know what happened,” Aliyev said.