Camilla Jessen
Azerbaijan is preparing to take Russia to international court.
Azerbaijan is preparing to file lawsuits in international courts against Russia, accusing it of downing a passenger plane near Aktau, Kazakhstan, in December 2024.
The crash killed all 38 people on board. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confirmed the legal action in a recent address, stating that the incident is no longer a mystery.
“We know what happened and we can prove it,” Aliyev said, as cited by Digi24. “And we know that Russian officials also know what happened.”
The aircraft, which was traveling from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Russia Accused of Silence and Stonewalling
Aliyev criticized Moscow for its lack of cooperation, claiming that Azerbaijan has received only vague responses to official inquiries.
According to the Azerbaijani president, the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan contacted the Russian Investigative Committee, but the only response was that an “investigation is ongoing.”
Aliyev called this posture “counterproductive” and confirmed that Azerbaijan has now formally notified Russia of its intent to pursue the matter in international courts.
“Our demands are absolutely natural: to acknowledge that this accident was their fault,” he said.
Accountability and Compensation
Azerbaijan is seeking the following from Russia:
- Admission of responsibility for the downing of the plane
- Prosecution of those responsible for launching the missile
- Compensation to the families of the 38 victims
- Financial damages to AZAL, Azerbaijan’s national airline
The government’s case rests heavily on a preliminary investigation report published in February 2025. That report confirmed that the aircraft was brought down by a Russian Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system.
Azerbaijani officials had initially told Euronews—just a day after the crash—that a Russian missile was the cause.
Crash Deepens Diplomatic Divide
The move to escalate the case internationally marks a serious deterioration in Russia-Azerbaijan relations. Ilham Aliyev made it clear that Moscow’s failure to respond meaningfully is harming bilateral ties.
His remarks came just hours after he publicly reiterated support for Ukraine, a notable signal given the ongoing war.
“Azerbaijan unequivocally supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Ukraine,” Aliyev said, according to local media.
