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Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that Russian air defenses were responsible for the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190 last year, resulting in the deaths of 38 people. During a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Putin stated that missiles targeting a Ukrainian drone detonated near the passenger aircraft as it approached Grozny. He pledged government accountability and financial compensation for those affected.
Investigations into the incident found that foreign metal fragments recovered from the wreckage matched those from a missile explosion. The aircraft, operating as Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny, was hit by shrapnel from Russian air-defense missiles intended for a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle. The blast damaged critical systems on the plane, leading the crew to divert across the Caspian Sea before losing control and crashing near Aktau in Kazakhstan. Thirty-eight passengers died, while 29 survived.
Earlier reports from Kazakh authorities confirmed that holes found in the fuselage were consistent with external fragments caused by a missile event. Pieces identified as part of a Pantsir-S1 missile system were recovered from the wreckage.
