Ten Months of Tension: The Diplomatic Battle Over a Downed Jet

A ten-month diplomatic battle over a downed passenger jet culminated on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin admitting his country’s role in the crash that killed 38 people. The admission to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, however, has not resolved the underlying tension.
At a summit in Tajikistan, Putin called the incident a “tragedy” and explained it was an unintentional consequence of a missile strike against Ukrainian drones. He claimed the drones exploded “meters away” from the Azerbaijan Airlines plane on December 25, 2024, causing its demise.
The flight from Baku to Grozny crashed in Kazakhstan after being hit. The lack of a swift, transparent response from Moscow led to a severe deterioration of its relationship with Baku, which had previously been one of Russia’s warmer partnerships in the region.
The depth of the rift was evident in President Aliyev’s reaction. He publicly accused Putin’s government of trying to “hush up” its involvement, suggesting that the ten months of silence were a deliberate strategy of obfuscation rather than a period of investigation.
Seeking a way past the dispute, Putin offered concrete measures. He promised financial compensation for the victims’ families and a legal review of the officials who made the fatal call, steps aimed at rebuilding a fraction of the trust lost over the past year.