Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reacts to Russia's closure of AZAL plane crash case

The termination of the investigation by the Russian Investigative Committee into the criminal case over the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane raises serious questions for Azerbaijan. This was announced at a briefing by the country's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, the media reports Report.

According to the minister, the Russian Investigative Committee sent a letter to Azerbaijan on the results of the investigation of the plane crash, the content of which was surprising.

"The letter stated that the criminal case had already been terminated. Of course, such a step raises very serious questions for us," Bayramov noted, adding that an official response to this letter was sent by the Azerbaijani authorities.

The minister said that Azerbaijan expects Russia to fulfill its obligations in connection with this incident.

Bayramov reminded that December 25 was the anniversary of the plane crash and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

"The fact that the plane was shot down was later recognized by the Russian side, and they also announced the payment of compensation. It was an important statement. We expect this process to be completed," he said.

• AZAL aircraft crashed on December 25, near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, after it changed its route across the Caspian Sea from southern Russia. The vessel was supposed to make a voyage from Baku to Grozny.
• Known, that 38 people were killed. After the crash, Putin called Aliyev twice to apologize for the "tragic incident" that occurred in Russian airspace.
• In February 2025, Reuters, citing a source in the Azerbaijani government, reported that the plane was shot down by the Russian air defense system "Pantsir-S".
• On October 9, Putin admitted for the first time that cause of disaster the AZAL aircraft was hit by Russian air defense missiles, but he began to complain about alleged Ukrainian drones and alleged malfunctioning of Russian weapons.