Personally, I explain Russia’s long silence on the Azerbaijani plane issue as both a general sense of confusion and the specifics of the relationship between the center and Chechnya — to clarify, consider, and agree. Our decision-making system is large, complex, and slow.

Axar.az reports that this was stated by Russian political scientist Alexey Naumov.

"When our peacekeepers were killed due to the mistaken fire from the Azerbaijani army, apologies, explanations, and compensation were provided immediately — this is the advantage of a compact decision-making system where the president pays attention to every detail. Russia is too large for such mobility; and I believe its leader has to solve much more on a daily basis.

In any case, I hope the situation will be clarified and resolved, as similar situations have been resolved in the past: while Moscow remains silent, others speak. And they are being heard."- he stated.

On December 25, an AZAL flight from Baku to Grozny was shot down by Russian air defense systems over the skies of Grozny, sustaining significant damage. As the plane was denied permission to land, it headed toward Aktau, where it crashed near Aktau airport. As a result of the crash, 38 out of 67 people on board were killed, while 29 survived.

To date, Russia has not apologized to Azerbaijan and has not held those responsible for denying the plane’s landing accountable.