Putin informs Aliyev about causes of AZAL plane crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan. The bilateral meeting had been announced the day before. Putin is in Tajikistan on a state visit.

During the meeting, the Russian president spoke about the causes of the AZAL plane crash.

According to him, one of the contributing factors was the presence of a Ukrainian drone in the sky. Putin noted that on the day of the tragedy, Russia was tracking three UAVs operated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Putin remarked that the AZAL plane was most likely struck by debris rather than by active combat elements. The president stated that Russia would take all necessary steps regarding compensation for the crash and added that the country would provide a legal assessment of the actions of the responsible officials.

In December of last year, a passenger plane crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau, killing 39 of the 67 people on board.