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TZUTC: 0200                  
Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia played a role in the
crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan last year. Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev claimed at the time that the plane was shot down by a
Russian missile, but Russia never confirmed this.
 
Putin met Aliyev on Thursday during a summit of former Soviet countries in
Tajikistan. The Russian president said that air defenses were active that
night of December 25, 2024, to intercept Ukrainian drones. One of the missiles
reportedly exploded "a few meters" from the passenger plane.
 
The aircraft, an Embraer 190 with 67 passengers, was en route from Baku to
Grozny, the capital of the Russian region of Chechnya. The plane ultimately
crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan. 38 passengers were killed.
 
Putin had previously apologized to Aliyev, but had not specifically stated
that Russia was to blame for the accident. A Kremlin statement at the time
stated that Putin apologized "because the tragic incident occurred in Russian
airspace.
 
"In Thursday's conversation, Putin said that Russia would do "everything
necessary" to provide compensation.
 
Aliyev had previously been outspokenly critical of Russia's response to the
crash, claiming that the Kremlin was trying to cover up Russia's role. On
Thursday, his tone changed and he thanked Putin for the apology.

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