Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday admitted that Russian air defences were responsible for shooting down an Azerbaijani passenger plane last year, marking his first public acknowledgment of Moscow’s role in the deadly crash.

Speaking during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where both leaders attended a summit of former Soviet nations, Putin described the incident as a “tragic mistake” caused by Russian missile fire intended to target Ukrainian drones.

The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on December 25, 2024, while flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic. The plane went down in western Kazakhstan after being struck by Russian air defence missiles, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.

At the time, Azerbaijani authorities reported that the aircraft had been “accidentally hit” by Russian fire. Moscow had previously expressed regret over the tragedy but had not formally accepted blame until now.

Putin, who has since apologised to Aliyev, said Russia was “providing every possible assistance” to the ongoing investigation and pledged that a “legal assessment” would be made regarding the actions of all officials involved.

“The investigation is nearing completion,” he said, linking the cause to “the presence of Ukrainian drones over Russian airspace on the night of the incident” and “technical failures” within Russia’s air defence system.

He explained that two missiles fired by Russian forces did not strike the aircraft directly but detonated nearby. “The damage occurred not primarily from the warheads, but most likely from debris from the missiles themselves,” Putin said.

Aliyev, who had previously accused Moscow of trying to “hush up” the incident, thanked Putin for personally overseeing the investigation, saying Azerbaijan had “no doubt it would resolve everything objectively.”

In July, Aliyev stated that Baku would seek recourse through “international justice” over the crash. The Kremlin said it respected Azerbaijan’s right to pursue legal action and would “wait for official verdicts.”

The admission marks a significant shift in Moscow’s stance on one of the most sensitive aviation tragedies in recent years, as both nations seek to maintain diplomatic ties amid regional and geopolitical tensions.