Putin admits Russia shot down Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243
October 10, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin finally admitted to downing Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 on 25 December 2025. The Embraer 190 was hit by a Russian Pantsir-S1 as it flew from Azerbaijan to Grozny, the main city in Russia’s Republic of Chechnya.
Putin admits Russia shot down Azeri aircraft
Sitting next to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe, Putin admitted the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was brought down by Russian air defence. He said that Russian air defence was engaging three Ukrainian drones in the area when two missiles hit the Embraer.
According to Putin, these missiles did not impact the jet directly; otherwise, the aircraft could have crashed immediately. Instead, they exploded around 10 meters from it. Reportedly, Captain Paladichuk Dmitry Sergeevich was the officer who gave the order to fire.
Tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan have been strained over the incident. At the time, Putin apologised to Azerbaijan for the “tragic incident” but did not formally accept responsibility. Azerbaijan’s Aliyev had demanded a formal apology and acceptance of responsibility.
Relations between the two countries are strained by other geopolitical factors, including Armenia and the treatment of each other’s migrants in both countries. Azerbaijan is also seeking to be more independent while Russia is in its weakened state, bogged down in its destructive war with Ukraine.
Another video showing the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 pic.twitter.com/Ze5pQ7Grv9
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) December 25, 2024
Recently, Moscow was forced to look on from the sidelines as Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a peace agreement in Washington, ending a state of conflict that had been ongoing since they were still part of the Soviet Union. Russia considers the region its backyard.
Shootdown of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243
The Azeri pilots were unaware of what had hit them and reported a bird strike, requesting permission to land immediately. Poor weather saw them divert to Kazakhstan, and while en route, the aircraft suffered hydraulic failure.
Shrapnel damage along the entire fuselage, gaping holes at the tail-end of the pods at the wing, holes in the cabin, holes in the life jackets, absolute erratic flight path and last but not least the crash on the ground.
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) December 25, 2024
I have little doubt that flight AHY8243 of Azerbaijan… pic.twitter.com/b9838e0UUJ
After being hit, the stricken aircraft limped over the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan’s western city of Aktau. Passengers filmed the scene inside the cabin with shrapnel holes and some passengers bleeding.
The pilots managed to continue flying the aircraft even without hydraulics, although the aircraft crashed short of the runway, causing the aircraft to break up on impact. The pilots were among the 38 people who perished, with 29 surviving. These were mostly in the rear section that sheared off on impact.
Videos quickly emerged of the aft section of the aircraft, including the tail, riddled with shrapnel holes. These made it immediately apparent that the aircraft had been shot down. The next day, Azerbaijani government sources confirmed to Euronews that it had been shot down by Russia.
Shootdowns are a leading cause of airliner crashes
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has seen two airliners shot down. The first happened in 2014 during Russia’s covert invasion of eastern Ukraine when Russia supplied militants in Ukraine’s Donbass region with a Buk air defence system.
❗️The International Civil Aviation Organization has officially found the Russian Federation responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 12, 2025
According to the Council’s decision, Russia violated international aviation agreements. The case was initiated by the… pic.twitter.com/0BMrnCLdb0
With Russia not notifying the world that it was supplying advanced air defence systems, airlines continued overflying Ukraine until Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July with total loss of life.
Another aircraft, Ukraine International Flight 752, was shot down in January 2020 by Iran after taking off from Tehran in the wake of the US assassinating Major General Qasem Soleimani. At that time, Iran had launched retaliatory attacks on US bases in Iraq and was on edge for US counterstrikes.
Most recently, on 11 July 2025, Aeroflot Flight AFL1845 was fired on and reportedly lightly hit by flak fire from a Russian Panstir air defence system as it came in to land in Moscow.
In Israel, civilian airliners are equipped with self-defence systems to protect the aircraft from missiles. At present, this is the only place where direct infrared countermeasure systems (DIRCM) are used on commercial aircraft, but DIRCM innovator Elbit recently told AGN that this could soon change.
