Azerbaijan is in mourning this week after a tragic plane crash on Christmas Day that claimed the lives of 38 people. The incident has drawn the attention of political analyst Farhad Mammadov, who reflected on a similar situation from November 2020.
During that time, as the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh was drawing to a close, Azerbaijan downed a Russian helicopter that had strayed into its airspace near the border with Armenia. Following the incident, Azerbaijan’s president immediately took responsibility for the action, personally apologizing to Russia, ensuring the culprits were punished, and offering compensation.
Fast forward to December 2024, and the dynamics seem to have shifted in a strikingly similar event. On December 25, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, which had taken off from Baku and was headed to Grozny, Chechnya, was en route when it apparently came under ground fire near Russian airspace. The aircraft diverted eastward but crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan. Tragically, only 29 of the 67 passengers and crew survived the crash.
