Russian general ordered Azerbaijan Airlines shootdown, later promoted: report
A new report alleges that a Russian general who ordered the missile strike on an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger flight in December 2024 not only escaped punishment but was later promoted.
From a misidentified target to a fatal order
On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190 (registration 4K-AZ65) operating flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny diverted over the Caspian Sea and crashed near Aktau International Airport (SCO) in Kazakhstan. The aircraft broke apart on impact, killing all 39 people on board, including the entire crew and passengers.
According to Azerbaijani outlet Minval Politika, Lieutenant Colonel Nikolay Nikolaevich Orlyansky, duty officer at the 51st Air Defense Division command post, testified that he received the order to shoot down the target directly from Major General Alexander Vasilyevich Tolopilo, then commander of the division under Russia’s Southern Military District. Orlyansky relayed the order to Captain Dmitry Sergeevich Paladichuk, chief of Pantsir-S combat vehicle No. 274, who fired two missiles, one of which struck the target.
A Pantsir air defense system (Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense)Earlier, Minval Politika published excerpts from a note allegedly written by Paladichuk. In it, he described how his crew detected a “potential target” in heavy fog, reported its speed and altitude, and then received a telephone order to destroy it. The first missile missed; the second hit what was later identified as the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft.
Investigation findings and alleged cover-up
An internal investigation reportedly confirmed the Pantsir missiles did not self-destruct, contradicting Tolopilo’s claims that his unit could not have caused the crash. According to Minval Politika, the general tried to shift blame to Russia’s Unified Air Traffic Management System and gave false testimony.
Despite these findings, Tolopilo faced no criminal charges. Instead, he was promoted to deputy commander of the 11th Guards Army of the Air Force and Air Defense in Russia’s Eastern Military District. Minval Politika published his photograph and noted that he was awarded the rank of major general by presidential decree in February 2022.
The report also alleges that Paladichuk’s crew was in “improper technical and organizational condition,” which prevented the timely identification of the civilian aircraft.
Official reports point to missile strike
A preliminary report by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Digital Development and Transport found evidence consistent with an anti-aircraft missile detonation, and investigators later confirmed the recovery of Pantsir missile fragments from the wreckage.
The Kremlin previously confirmed its air defenses were active on the day of the incident.
On July 22, 2025, President Ilham Aliyev announced that Azerbaijan will sue Russia in international courts over the downing of the aircraft. The post Russian general ordered Azerbaijan Airlines shootdown, later promoted: report appeared first on AeroTime.
A new report alleges that a Russian general who ordered the missile strike on an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger…
The post Russian general ordered Azerbaijan Airlines shootdown, later promoted: report appeared first on AeroTime.
