Putin acknowledges: Russia's missiles shot down the Azerbaijani plane that crashed on Christmas Day

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged, in a discussion with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, that two Russian anti-aircraft missiles shot down the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on Christmas Day last year, resulting in the deaths of 38 people. The Embraer 190 aircraft, which was flying from Baku to Grozny, was hit near the Russian coast of the Caspian Sea after Chechen air defense activated the Pantsir systems to repel an attack by Ukrainian drones. The incident confirms earlier hypotheses that emerged in the Russian and Ukrainian press, suggesting that the civilian aircraft was the target of an accidental attack.