President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia's air defenses were to blame for downing an Azerbaijani jetliner in December that killed 38 people, his first admission of responsibility for the crash in an effort to ease tensions between the neighbors. Putin said the missiles fired by Russian air defenses to target a Ukrainian drone exploded near the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku as it was preparing to land in Grozny, Chechnya, on Christmas Day last year. Ukrainian drones have regularly struck deep inside Russia. Speaking at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe, Putin pledged to punish those responsible and provide compensation, reports the AP.
Azerbaijani authorities had said the jet was hit accidentally by Russian fire, then tried to land in western Kazakhstan, where it crashed and killed 38 of 67 people on board. Days after the crash, Putin apologized to Aliyev for what he called a "tragic incident," though he stopped short of acknowledging responsibility. Aliyev, meanwhile, criticized Moscow for trying to "hush up" the incident. The controversy over the crash has roiled the previously warm ties between Moscow and Baku.
Speaking to Aliyev on Thursday, Putin said that Russian air defenses that targeted a Ukrainian drone fired on the Azerbaijani airliner because of a "technical malfunction," adding that two missiles exploded just 33 feet away from the passenger jet. "The Russian side will obviously do everything to provide compensation and give legal assessment to all responsible officials' action," Putin said. "Of course, these words related to this tragedy, aimed at supporting—morally supporting—the families do not solve the main problem: We can't bring back to life those who died as a result of the tragedy."
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He voiced hope for overcoming the strain between the countries and fully rebuilding the ties. "I hope that our cooperation not only will be restored, but continue in the spirit of our relations, the spirit of our alliance," he said. Aliyev, for his part, thanked Putin for investigating the cause of the plane's downing. "I would like to thank you for keeping the situation under your personal control," he said. The Azerbaijani leader said they'd had a chance to discuss a "broad and positive" bilateral agenda, voicing hope that "the messages we are sending today to our societies will meet a positive response."
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