There had been 67 on board the aircraft on Christmas Day last year when it was heading from Azerbaijan‘s capital Baku to Grozny in Russia.
At the time it was strongly believed that Russian air defences had shot down the plane and was responsible for the killing, with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev declaring ‘with complete clarity’ that Russia shot the plane down and accusing the country of trying to ‘hush up’ the deaths.
There were survivors of the plane crash who described their ordeal in the skies and alleged leaked audio was used in Azerbaijan to claim that Russia knew the aircraft was a passenger plane.
At the time of the crash Putin called it a ‘tragic incident’ but he did not acknowledge Russian responsibility – until yesterday (9 October).
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was shot down by Russia on Christmas Day, 2024, Putin has finally admitted it was their fault (ISSA TAZHENBAYEV/AFP via Getty Images)
The Russian leader claimed that air defences targeting a Ukrainian drone experienced a ‘technical malfunction’ resulting in two missiles exploding 10 metres away from the passenger plane.
He said: “The Russian side will obviously do everything to provide compensation and give legal assessment to all responsible officials’ action.
“Of course, these words related to this tragedy, aimed at supporting – morally supporting – the families do not solve the main problem: We can’t bring back to life those who died as a result of the tragedy.”
Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev said he hoped ‘the messages we are sending today to our societies will meet a positive response’.
Some of the final words spoken on board Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 itself came when a flight attendant told everyone to fasten their seat belts and attempted to reassure passengers that ‘everything will be fine‘. She was one of many to die in the crash.
Warning: Video contains upsetting content
When the plane was caught in the explosions the pilot decided not to attempt landing it in the Caspian Sea. Instead, it crash landed in Kazakhstan and the front section exploded into a fireball.
One of the people on board credits the fact that the plane broke apart as it crashed, as the reason there were some survivors.
Flight attendant Zulfugar Asadov said: “If the plane had touched down with both the front and rear landing gears at the same time, no one would have survived.
“When the front landing gear touched the ground, the plane broke into two pieces, and the front cockpit was torn off.”
New audio from Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 has revealed the moment the passenger plane was allegedly shot down by Russia on Christmas Day last year.
At the time of the crash, the plane – which had departed from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku – was carrying 67 passengers before crash landing in Aktau, Kazakhstan while on route to Grozny, Russia.
According to the BBC, the airline said the plane was diverted as a result of fog and caught fire while attempting to make an emergency landing, before breaking in two.
The crash led to the deaths of 38 people.
In the wake of the crash, Russian officials insisted it was an accident, and that they thought it was a Ukrainian drone.
The plane was allegedly shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile defence system, causing it to crash land after crossing the Caspian Sea.
Following the horrifying incident, Russians claimed Ukrainian drones were attacking the city of Grozny.
The media in Azerbaijan claimed to have received a leaked audio recording of the moment orders were given to fire, which they say shows Russia knew the doomed flight wasn’t a drone.
The plane crashed on Christmas day, claiming the lives of 38 people (Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Media outlet Minval reported on Tuesday that as well as the audio, they had received a video and a note claiming to be signed by a Russian officer, alleging the ministry had cleared the crew to shoot down a ‘potential target’ in ‘very thick fog’.
In the recording, a voice can be heard saying: “Hello! Azimuth 338, range 7,000, altitude 490, speed 118, heading 230.”
This voice has been found to belong to Captain Dmitry Paladichuk, who is a Russian air defence officer commanding a missile unit.
A voice answers: “Yes, range is now 7. Fire! I said fire!”
The answer is believed to have come from the Russian air defence unit which replies: “Fired!”
“Missed… Missed! Again! Fire once more,” came the reply.
The horrifying audio captured the moment where the operator replied: “Copy, firing,” before the fatal air defence rocket was fired.
A handwritten testimony from Captain Paladichuk has also been leaked where he reportedly revealed how he was ordered by a commander to shoot.
The captain had written: “I was ordered by phone to destroy the target.”
He allegedly said: “At 08:13:30 I ordered the operator to engage. At 08:13:33 the missile cleared the launcher. At 08:13:47 the BM-72V6 [fire] control system reported a miss.
“At 08:13:48 I ordered a second engagement…. The second missile was launched when the target had the following characteristics: azimuth 311°, distance 8,000 m, altitude 1,300 m, speed 120 m/s.”
The authenticity of the document, video, and audio has not been confirmed.
It has been found that the plane was travelling at around 265mph at the time it was shot down, which is double the speed most drones are capable of.
The pilots of the plane reportedly tried to land at three different airports before crashing (Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
After being hit, it is claimed the pilots tried to land at three different airports.
Footage of the crash showed the stricken plane falling into a dive before crashing into the ground, devastatingly close to Aktau airport.
Miraculously, not everyone on board was killed.
Investigators managed to retrieve the black box containing the pilots’ final words. One of them said: “I can’t execute, control is lost!”
Horrified passengers on the plane was caught on camera making final calls to loved ones and leaving voicemails, some jumping out of their seats to try and find a way to escape.
In the days after the crash, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev lay the blame firmly with Russia.
Addressing the nation, he said: “We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia (…) We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done.”
“First, the Russian side must apologise to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit its guilt. Third, punish the guilty, bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, the injured passengers and crew members,” Aliyev demanded.
The president later said that Vladimir Putin had apologised to him on 28 December, calling it a ‘tragic incident,’ however he did not accept responsibility.
According to Reuters, the Kremlin said Putin ‘apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Russia has sent a chilling threat to the UK, naming 23 locations which could be targeted as tensions continue to rise across Europe.
Despite the best efforts of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin looks no closer to arranging a peace deal with Ukraine. Meanwhile, other countries in Eastern Europe have also expressed concerns with NATO after the recent actions of Russia.
In the last couple of months, drones from Russia were shot down in Poland, while Putin’s country was also accused of violating Estonia’s airspace after military aircraft were spotted there, which only increased fears of a third world war.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently denied accusations from the West which claim that Putin is testing NATO’s resolve for a world war, saying: “President Putin has repeatedly debunked these provocations. Russia has never had and does not have any such intentions.
Threats continue to come from Russia, despite Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meeting to discuss peace in August (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“However, any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this among those in NATO and the EU.”
However, Lavrov clearly isn’t being helped by the likes of senator and war combatant Dmitry Rogozin and TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, who both made worrying claims about the UK this week.
Rogozin posted a map highlighting UK defence-related sites as Russia’s ‘targets’, which included military bases in Barrow, Plymouth and Glasgow.
This prompted Solovyov to say: “Dmitry Rogozin today posted a reminder of targets in Britain that could be destroyed first.
“The idiots will get what’s coming to them, they’ll just get what’s coming to them.”
WW3 tensions are continuing to grow (Getty Stock Image)
The presenter also described ex-Tory MP Ben Wallace as ‘a piece of s*** who lost his job’ as defence secretary, and also suggested that he would be to blame if Brits were to die at the hands of Russia.
He said: “He’s a nobody, but suddenly he decided to tell us what we should be like.
“When the unfortunate Brits die, they should say your name, because it’s you, you moron, who brought trouble to the island.
“You’re a moron… He doesn’t care about the lives of Crimeans, he doesn’t care about their opinion.
“This is a man who has lost everything in his political career.
“If you remember, he dreamed of becoming NATO head… and [Joe Biden] they told him to get lost…”
It isn’t the first time Britain has faced a threat from Russia and Solovyov in particular, with the propagandist not exactly shy in his hatred for the country, previously suggesting that Russia should bomb two UK cities to take control if war does break out.
