Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday officially acknowledged that the December 2024 crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, which killed 38 people, was caused by missiles launched from Russian territory.

Putin met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the 2nd Russia–Central Asia Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Citing Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency, Putin explained that the incident occurred when Russian missiles, deployed to track Ukrainian drones, detonated just a few meters from the civilian aircraft.

The flight, which departed Baku, Azerbaijan, on December 25, 2024, en route to Grozny, Russia, carried 67 people, including 62 passengers, two pilots, and three cabin crew. It crashed in Akatu, Kazakhstan, resulting in 38 fatalities.

Putin described t

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