A monument in memory of those killed in the AZAL plane crash has been unveiled in Grozny.

On the eve of the anniversary of the AZAL plane crash in Kazakhstan, a monument in memory of the victims was unveiled in Grozny. Vladimir Putin today congratulated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on his birthday. A few days before the anniversary, he refused to attend an informal summit of CIS leaders.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the first meeting in a long time between the heads of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, took place on October 9 in Dushanbe. Two missiles fired by the Russian air defense system did not directly hit the AZAL plane, but exploded several meters away, Putin stated during the meeting. The preconditions for resolving the diplomatic crisis between Russia and Azerbaijan were Moscow's recognition of responsibility for the AZAL plane crash and the payment of compensation. Putin's statement in Dushanbe on this issue provided an opportunity to normalize relations in the interests of both sides, analysts noted.

Today, a monument to those killed in this tragedy was unveiled in the center of Grozny, in Heydar Aliyev Square. Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Rahman Sahib oglu Mustafayev, President of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Samir Musa oglu Rzayev, and other officials attended the ceremony, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced today on his Telegram channel.

The airline's president was presented with the "For Services to the Chechen Republic" medals awarded to the surviving flight attendants of the Embraer 190, Zulfugar Asadov and Aidan Rahimli. "We nominated them for awards earlier this year. Each of us is deeply grateful to them for the courage and bravery they demonstrated during the plane crash," Kadyrov said, adding that "the opening of the memorial once again clearly confirms the fraternal, friendly, and neighborly relations between the Chechen and Azerbaijani peoples."

Aliyev did not come to St. Petersburg several days before the anniversary of the plane crash.

Vladimir Putin today sent a birthday greeting to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, RIA Novosti reported.

"I wish you, dear Ilham Heydarovich, health, prosperity, and success. "Please convey my heartfelt greetings to your family," Putin's message reads.

Ilham Aliyev was expected at the informal CIS summit, which concluded on December 22 in St. Petersburg. Aliyev declined to attend, citing a busy schedule. "Preliminary consent was obtained, and preparations were made for Ilham Aliyev's arrival; he was taken into account in all pre-New Year events," Kommersant wrote on December 22.

One of the real reasons Aliyev did not fly to Moscow could have been the ongoing crisis in relations between Moscow and Baku, which began after the crash of the AzAl passenger jet last December, JamNews writes today.

Relations between Moscow and Baku noticeably deteriorated after the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 67 people on board in Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024, while en route from Baku to Grozny. You can read more about this in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Baku-Grozny Flight Crash" and in the article "Geopolitical Confrontation: What Led to the Crash of the AZAL Plane".

On December 28, 2024, Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and apologized "due to the fact that the tragic incident" with the AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) plane "occurred in Russian airspace." On December 29, Aliyev publicly demanded that Russia admit guilt for the plane crash, and on January 6, criticized the Russian authorities for refusing to admit guilt and demanded that those responsible for the plane crash be punished. Ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan have become a new twist in the deterioration of relations between the two countries. Baku accuses Russian authorities of extrajudicial killings of Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Crisis in Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia".

Ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan have become a new twist in the deterioration of relations between the two countries. Baku accuses Russian authorities of extrajudicial killings of Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Crisis in Azerbaijan-Russia Relations".

On June 28, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called on Russian authorities to investigate the deaths and injuries of Azerbaijanis who suffered as a result of a special operation by security forces in Yekaterinburg on June 27. Experts in Baku named blunt force trauma as the cause of death for brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov, while the Russian side cited a heart attack. On June 30, Azerbaijani security forces searched the office of the Russian news agency Sputnik Azerbaijan and detained two people, calling them agents of the Russian special services; they were arrested. Also on July 1, a court arrested eight Russian citizens detained on charges of drug trafficking and cybercrime.

On October 10, it was announced that Sputnik Azerbaijan Executive Director Igor Kartavykh and one of the Azerbaijanis arrested in Russia were released. The decision was agreed upon before the meeting between Putin and Aliyev in Dushanbe.

Materials on the deterioration of relations between the two countries have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "The Collapse of Ties between Baku and Moscow".