The Russian Investigative Committee has sent the final report of its investigation conducted in December 2024 regarding the downed AZAL plane to the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan. The document states that the aircraft could not land in Russian territory due to unfavorable weather conditions. On this basis, the Investigative Committee has decided to close the criminal case.
In his statement to Medianews.az regarding the matter, political commentator Məhəmməd Əsədullazadə said that as it seems, Russia will not pay compensation to Azerbaijan and those who shot down the plane will not be punished: “However, in Dushanbe, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that the plane was shot down and promised compensation would be paid and the responsible persons would be punished.”
M. Əsədullazadə emphasized that in the investigation conducted by Russia, the downing of the plane is not mentioned at all; it is stated that the plane itself crashed: "This means that Russia did not accept Azerbaijan's terms. This is another manifestation of Russia's negative policy against Azerbaijan. It means Russia is trying to pressure Azerbaijan. Instead of constructive cooperation with official Baku, it is pursuing a policy of dragging relations into crisis. Azerbaijan’s development of bilateral relations with the USA is also met with concern in Moscow. This stance of Russia is a shame for a country. Vladimir Putin says one thing, the investigation says something completely different. Russia itself has chosen the path of crisis with Azerbaijan.”
Let us recall that on December 25, 2024, the "Embraer 190" type passenger plane belonging to AZAL, performing Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243, was subjected to external physical and technical interference in Russian airspace. The aircraft, which lost control, was directed toward the city of Aktau, where it performed an emergency landing. Out of the 67 people on board, 38 died and 29 were rescued.
Nailə Qasımova,
Medianews.az
