Russian authorities have officially closed the investigation into the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane. The Embraer plane, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed on December 25, 2024 near Aktau, Kazakhstan. The crash killed 38 people and injured 29. The plane was most likely shot down by Russian air defense forces, who mistook the passenger jet for drones.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
According to media reports, Russian investigators have determined that there is no conclusive evidence linking specific individuals or institutions to the tragedy. However, the decision has sparked a heated reaction both in Azerbaijan and abroad, RMF 24 reports.
According to the Anadolu Agency, Moscow's decision was met with “deep surprise and incomprehension” in Baku. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan stressed that, in their opinion, the Russian authorities had not presented the full results of the investigation to their partners and the public.
Azerbaijan has initially claimed that the plane was shot down by Russian air defense forces. President Ilham Aliyev has stressed that the tragedy could have been avoided if there had been proper airspace coordination between the Azerbaijani and Russian sides.
ADVERTISING
The Azerbaijani authorities demanded from Russia a full and transparent analysis of the causes of the disaster, as well as an admission of error and compensation for the families of the victims. However, Putin apologized for the incident, but did not officially admit that Russian air defense systems shot down the plane.
The Azerbaijani authorities considered this formula insufficient. This contributed to the deterioration of relations between Baku and Moscow.
We should add that recently the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) officially recognized Russia as responsible for the crash of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 over Donbas in July 2014, which was operating flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. 298 people died in the crash.
ADVERTISING