In a first, Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that the Russian forces were responsible for downing the Azerbaijan plane that had killed 38 people. Back in December 2024, the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, en route from Baku to Grozny in Russia, crashed near Kazakhstan's Aqtau airport, claiming 38 lives and leaving several injured.

Putin had earlier apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash. However, he hadn't admitted Moscow's involvement in the crash. According to an official Kremlin statement, Putin apologised to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace."

Earlier reports, citing military experts, suggested that the plane might have been "accidentally struck"

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