Dec 2024: Azerbaijani airliner crashes (shot down?) in Kazakhstan (split from UKR thread)

[The Bread Guy]

Well, well, well - may not have been the first time something's shot out of the sky mistaken for a drone by a Russian AA operator ....

Russian officer given nearly three years in prison for downing Russian helicopter he mistook for Ukrainian drone — Meduza

A Russian soldier has been sentenced to two years and ten months in prison after mistakenly shooting down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile system, believing it to be a Ukrainian drone, Kommersant reports.

meduza.io

 

[GR66]

Well, well, well - may not have been the first time something's shot out of the sky mistaken for a drone by a Russian AA operator ....

Russian officer given nearly three years in prison for downing Russian helicopter he mistook for Ukrainian drone — Meduza

A Russian soldier has been sentenced to two years and ten months in prison after mistakenly shooting down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile system, believing it to be a Ukrainian drone, Kommersant reports.

meduza.io

Not a smart move by the Russians. Three years in prison is likely much safer than staying on the front against Ukraine. If I were a Russian AD officer I'd be tempted to take down the next RuAF aircraft I see in order to get the same sweetheart deal!

 

[The Bread Guy]

Not a smart move by the Russians. Three years in prison is likely much safer than staying on the front against Ukraine ...

I suspect the widow Navalny might beg to differ

 

[daftandbarmy]

moved

 

[KevinB]

It's official: Russia did it...

ICAO Rules Russia Liable for MH17 Downing in Landmark Aviation Ruling​

ICAO finds Russia violated international law in 2014 MH17 tragedy, setting precedent for state accountability in aviation disasters. Australia and Netherlands lead reparations efforts.

ICAO Rules Russia Liable for MH17 Downing in Landmark Aviation Ruling

ICAO finds Russia violated international law in 2014 MH17 tragedy, setting precedent for state accountability in aviation disasters. Australia and Netherlands lead reparations efforts.

airpronews.com

Wrong thread. This thread isn’t about the MH17

 

[The Bread Guy]

Pigs. Are. Flying.

Putin apologizes for 'tragic incident' but stops short of saying Azerbaijani plane was shot down

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan's leader for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. Putin stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.

apnews.com

Putin seeks to 'give reassurances' in apology over Azerbaijan plane crash

www.france24.com

Putin apologizes to Azerbaijan for 'tragic incident' of plane crash

His statement stopped short of saying the plane was shot down by Russian air defenses

www.voanews.com

Putin apologizes after Azerbaijan plane crash

Vladimir Putin apologized Saturday after the US and Azerbaijan accused Russia of shooting down a passenger plane, killing 38 people.

www.fox5dc.com

It IS a qualified apology (in yellow), though - this from the USSR 2.0 info-machine statement (archived link - text of statement also attached) ...
View attachment 90084
... with the mandatory blame-shifting ingredient of the disinformation stew being served up (in blue) as well.

Also, another social media poke along the same lines here ....

Pro-Kremlin propaganda video blows Santa out of the sky

“We don’t need anything foreign in our skies,” Father Frost, the Russian blue dressed version of Santa, says after overlooking how the air defense shoot down Santa Claus and his reindeer.

www.thebarentsobserver.com

In the latest episode of "Pigs Are Flying," Putin sorta-kinda fesses up ....

Russian Missiles Exploded Near Azerbaijani Plane That Crashed Last Year, Putin Admits - The Moscow Times

President Vladimir Putin told Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev on Thursday that two Russian anti-aircraft missiles had exploded several meters away from an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed last year, marking the Kremlin leader’s first public admission that Russia was to blame for the...

www.themoscowtimes.com

Also archived here.

No mention about that whole missile unpleasantness in the RUS state media take: