Moscow's attitude following the air disaster of December 25, 2024, in which thirty-eight people died, considerably irritated Baku. “Responsibility for the death of Azerbaijani citizens lies with the representatives of Russia (…) our anger is justified by the cover-ups of the Russian side”Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev was outraged on January 6. Speaking in Baku before the three surviving crew members of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) flight J2-8243, he demanded that Moscow “recognize responsibility”punish the guilty and compensate the victims.
Vladimir Putin waited three days to issue a partial apology “in connection with the fact that the tragic incident occurred in the airspace of Russia”but without admitting Russian responsibility.
The disaster of flight J2-8243 took place in two stages. An AZAL Embraer-190AR flying from Baku to Grozny (Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation) was, according to numerous indications, mistakenly damaged following fire from a “Pantsir” anti-aircraft system near the airport from Grozny, during an alert caused by the intrusion of Ukrainian drones. Gradually losing control of the aircraft, the pilots then, for an as yet undetermined reason, flew over the Caspian Sea to crash 450 kilometers further near Aktau airport, in Kazakhstan.
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Source: Lemonde