Russia has acknowledged the downing of the Azerbaijani plane and will pay compensation

Azerbaijan and Russia have reached a consensus on resolving the aftermath of the crash of the AZAL Embraer 190 aircraft, which occurred on December 25, 2024. The agreement provides for the payment of compensation to the families of the victims of the tragedy, which occurred as a result of the operation of the air defense system in Russian airspace near the city of Aktau. 

This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

The agreements were reached in accordance with the decisions of the presidents of both countries following their meeting in Dushanbe in October 2025. The parties reaffirmed their commitment to properly resolving the legal and financial aspects of the incident within the framework of allied cooperation.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry noted that these measures are aimed at strengthening cooperation between the countries. This development is unfolding against the backdrop of a systemic recession in the Russian economy, which officially began in April 2026, forcing Moscow to more actively resolve contentious issues with key partners in the region.

An aircraft operated by an Azerbaijani airline crashed in late 2024, triggering a lengthy investigation and negotiations regarding the parties’ liability. At present, the technical details of the compensation mechanism and the final compensation amounts are not being disclosed for confidentiality reasons.

The resolution of this incident is part of broader diplomatic efforts in the Caspian region. The parties plan to finalize all procedural aspects regarding the compensation tranches in the near future. Both states emphasize the importance of preventing similar tragedies in the future by improving the coordination of airspace control systems.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that his country is preparing documents to file a case with international courts against Russia over the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane near Aktau.

Zulfugar Asadov, a flight attendant on the Embraer E-190 operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), which was flying from Baku to Grozny on December 25 and crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau, recounted the details of the crash.

Co-pilot Alexander Kalyaninov was killed in the plane crash in Kazakhstan that occurred on Wednesday, December 25. He had trained at the Ukrainian State Flight Academy.