Putin claims that the cause of the disaster is related to the presence of a Ukrainian drone in the sky. According to him, the Russian air defense system fired two missiles: they did not hit the plane directly, but exploded a few meters from it. The plane was hit not by the missile's impact elements, but, most likely,"debris", Putin added.

The Russian president said he had already apologized for the"tragedy." He reiterated his condolences to the families of those killed in the disaster, adding that Russia was assisting in the investigation into the causes of the disaster."Of course, everything that is necessary in such tragic cases regarding compensation will be done on the Russian side, and the actions of all officials will be given a legal assessment," Putin added.

Aliyev said on January 6 that Russia was to blame for the incident when an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25 last year, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. The plane was likely hit by a Russian air defense missile near Grozny. Aliyev said the plane was shot down from the ground.

Russia has acknowledged that its air defenses were working during the incident, as Grozny was under attack by Ukrainian drones, but has not admitted that it shot down the plane.