On December 25, 2024, an AZAL flight travelling from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny, Russia, crashed 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) from the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, on the Caspian Sea coast, killing 38 of the 67 passengers and crew members onboard.
Putin spoke on the phone with Aliyev three days after the crash, offering condolences and apologising for the part of the incident having taken place in Russian airspace.
A day later, in an interview with state TV channel AzTV, Aliyev accused Russia of unintentionally shooting down the plane, urging Moscow to accept responsibility, punish those responsible, and provide compensation.
During their meeting in Dushanbe last October, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Putin pledged to do everything necessary to provide compensation.
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