Putin accepts Russian 'missile fragments' hit Azerbaijan plane which crashed last year on Christmas and killed 38
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Putin accepts Russian 'missile fragments' hit Azerbaijan plane which crashed last year on Christmas and killed 38")
Russian President Vladimir Putin Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
In a meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan, Putin, for the first day, accepted that Russia was partly to blame for the tragedy.
President Vladimir Putin, on Thursday (Oct 9), accepted that Russia was partly to be blamed for Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash last year on December 25 that killed 38 people. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan capital city Baku to Grozny in the republic of Chechnya when it disappeared from radar while flying over Caspian Sea near Russia before being found crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau. The Russian officials had earlier cited poor visibility or bird strike as the reason for the crash before accepting later on that Ukrainian drones were being targeted by the Russian air defence system in the area.
Putin accepts Russia's part in Azerbaijan plane crash
In a meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan, Putin, for the first day, accepted that Russia was partly to blame for the tragedy. Putin said that the Ukrainian drones entered the Russian airspace and the defense system got activated which later malfunctioned and launched two missiles which later detonated near the plane and the fragments hit the plane which caused the crash.
“They (missiles) exploded, perhaps via self-destruct, roughly at a distance of 10 meters [33 feet]. Thus, the aircraft was damaged not predominantly by direct warhead impact but rather by missile fragments,” Putin said.
How did Azerbaijan react to it?
Azerbaijan President Aliyev had demanded Russian accountability in the matter after the government sources, at the time of crash, had told news agency Reuters that the investigators had found the fragment of a Russian Pantsir-S anti-air rocket in the debris. As a result, Baku closes a Moscow-funded research centre and barred Russian officials from entering the country over offensive remarks as well among other measures.
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Meanwhile, Putin announced compensation for the victims' families and assessment of the actions of Russian officials at the time of incident. Now, after Putin's acceptance of Russia's role, Aliyev thanked the Russian President for overseeing the investigation on personal level.
