Putin acknowledged the explosion of air defense missiles near the AZAL plane

Two missiles fired by Russia's air defense system did not directly hit the AZAL plane, but exploded several meters away, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Ilham Aliyev.

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," the first meeting in a long time between Russian and Azerbaijani leaders Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev will take place today in Dushanbe. Moscow expects to discuss issues in the two countries' relations. On October 7, Ilham Aliyev called Vladimir Putin and congratulated him on his birthday, amid deteriorating relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. "During the telephone conversation, an exchange of views took place on the current state and prospects of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia," the Azerbaijani side reported.

Vladimir Putin suggested that Ilham Aliyev begin their talks in Dushanbe by discussing the situation surrounding the AZAL plane crash. The Russian president reminded his Azerbaijani counterpart that he had apologized for the crash occurring in Russia's skies. The Russian leader reiterated his condolences to the families of those killed in the AZAL plane crash, noting that Russia is providing full cooperation to the investigation into the crash, Kommersant reports.

Two missiles fired by Russia's air defense system did not directly hit the AZAL plane, but exploded several meters away, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Ilham Aliyev.

According to the Russian president, the plane was most likely hit by debris rather than submunitions. He noted that the crash was partly due to the presence of a Ukrainian drone in the sky, RBK reports.

As a reminder, on September 3, Putin and Aliyev met in Beijing at celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, but they refrained from speaking, limiting themselves to greetings. "President Aliyev and I greeted him and his wife today.  We exchanged a few words ," Putin said that day.

On September 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia had fully compensated for the plane and transferred insurance payments to most of the families of the victims.  Insurance payments and compensation should not be confused  , the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry countered. Compensation payments for the downing of a foreign aircraft are customary in international relations, subject to an admission of guilt for the disaster. Russia  chose not to admit guilt , but to consider the crash of the AZAL airliner an accident, which is why the insurance payments are being made, according to lawyers. 

The latest deterioration in relations between the two countries has been marked by ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan. Baku accuses Russian authorities of extrajudicial killings of Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report " Crisis in Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia ."

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416166