Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed condolences to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the crash of the An-24 passenger plane. The letter was published on the official website of the Azerbaijani leader. It is noteworthy that this gesture was made against the backdrop of tensions in relations between the countries.

“I am deeply saddened by the news of numerous casualties as a result of the crash of the An-24 passenger plane in the Amur Region. In connection with this tragedy, on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I express my most sincere condolences to you, the families and friends of the victims,” the document says.

The plane crash in the Amur Region was reported on July 24. As a result of the plane crash, 49 people on board died, including five children.

The An-24 aircraft was flying from Khabarovsk to Blagoveshchensk to Tynda, but then stopped communicating. A Mi-8 helicopter was sent out to search for the passenger airliner, and ground services also joined in. Later, the wreckage of the aircraft was found 15 km from Tynda.

As noted by the Federal Air Transport Agency, the An-2 aircraft, which are the prototype of the crashed An-24, were not originally designed to transport passengers. A criminal case has been opened in Russia on the fact of the air crash under Part 3 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of the rules for the movement and operation of air transport, which resulted in the death of more than two persons through negligence”).

Condolences in connection with the tragedy were expressed, among others, by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Tensions in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan arose after a high-profile air crash that occurred in late 2024. On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijani passenger airliner Embraer 190, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau. It is known that there were 67 people on board, of which 42 were citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 of Russia, 6 of Kazakhstan and 3 of Kyrgyzstan. 29 passengers survived.

Moscow hid the reasons for the plane crash for a long time. However, the dominant version was that it came under fire from Russian air defense systems during an attack by Ukrainian drones on the territory of Chechnya. This is the opinion of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in connection with which he demanded that Russia admit guilt, punish the perpetrators and pay compensation.

Recently, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Baku is preparing documents for submission to international courts. Despite the fact that more than seven months have passed since the plane crash, those responsible remain unpunished.