Minval Politika reports that Russian military personnel on duty have been identified at the time when the Embraer 190 aircraft belonging to AZAL airline was hit by a missile strike.
According to the information, during this time, Captain Dmitry Pudovkin of the 51st Air Defense Division, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Yanovsky, the duty officer of the Southern Military District headquarters, and Colonel Gennady Eremenko, the duty officer of the 4th Guards Airborne Forces command post, were on duty.
On July 22, Minval wrote that Major General Alexander Tolopilo gave the order to strike an "unidentified aerial target." His order was relayed to Pudovkin by Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Orlyansky.
On December 25, 2024, flight J28243 on the Baku–Grozny route made an emergency landing near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, close to the Aral Sea, resulting in 38 fatalities. The report from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport stated that the aircraft was damaged due to the impact of "external objects."
The incident has led to a diplomatic crisis between Russia and Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev announced on July 19 that Baku is preparing to file a lawsuit in an international court.
