Lied and Nearly Got Embarrassed: Expert Explains Why Putin Admitted to Downing Azerbaijani Plane

Political strategist Mikhail Sheitelman explained that Putin eventually admitted that Russian air defense shot down the Azerbaijani aircraft on December 25, and he also explained who forced him to do so and how he lied again, Politeka reports.
He shared this in his blog.

As the expert notes, during a meeting in Dushanbe, Putin finally decided to clarify the situation with President Aliyev regarding the downed Azerbaijani plane—but, as always, he lied. According to Putin’s version, Sheitelman says, the Russian air defense launched two missiles, which exploded several meters from the plane and hit it with fragments, not with the actual warheads. The crew was allegedly offered to land in Makhachkala, but they chose to return to Azerbaijan, and somehow, a Ukrainian drone was ultimately to blame.

“So, he never admitted to the downing of the Indonesian plane over Donbas, but he admitted this one—because a war with Azerbaijan is too costly for him. So far it’s just a war of words, but he’s losing gas and oil contracts, losing transit routes. His relations with Turkey turned out to be too valuable. The Turks announced they would gradually reduce their purchases of Russian gas and shift to other sources. And Putin was like: ‘Oops.’ So it was Turkey and Azerbaijan that forced Putin to admit he shot down the Azerbaijani plane,” explains Mikhail Sheitelman.

He also notes that it was important for Putin to stress that the damage came from fragments and not a direct hit—otherwise, he would look twice as foolish: both for shooting down passenger planes and for failing to properly bring them down, which doesn’t speak well for his military’s capabilities. And, of course, the expert states, everyone knows Russia didn’t offer the crew a chance to land in Makhachkala—on the contrary, the crew wanted to land there but weren’t allowed. Russia wanted the plane to fall into the Caspian Sea so no one would find out, but there were survivors, and the crime couldn’t be hidden.

“It’s very unfortunate that foreign airlines still fly to Russia, because there will be a next one—and another after that. Russia’s air defense is getting worse and worse. I wouldn’t advise anyone to fly to Russia under any circumstances. Your plane will be shot down—and then who are you going to blame? Yourself, for your own foolishness,” warns Mikhail Sheitelman.

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