VOA Russian: Putin's apology for downed plane not enough for Azerbaijan
Voice of America
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Dec. 25, 2024. (Kazakhstan Emergencies Ministry/Handout via Reuters)
VOA Russian speaks to regional experts who believe that President Vladimir Putin has unexpectedly found himself in a corner after it appears Russian air defense accidentally shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane. Azerbaijan will not completely break away from Russia, but Baku's strong statements indicate that Russia's influence over the region will rapidly decrease.
FILE - From left: Austrian Chancellor and head of the People's Party Karl Nehammer, head of the Social Democrats Andreas Babler and head of NEOS party Beate Meinl-Reisinger announce the start of coalition negotiations in Vienna, Nov. 18, 2024
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally to oppose a court having issued a warrant to detain Yoon, near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 3, 2025. The letters read, "Oppose Impeachment."
FILE - M23 rebels stand with their weapons in Kibumba, in the eastern of Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 23, 2022.
A view of debris on a street from nearby buildings, hundreds of meters from Ukraine's Presidential Office, after a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 1 2025.
A couple watches the sunset atop Mount Qassioun, which was opened to the public after the fall of the Assad regime, in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 2, 2025.
FILE - Armed militants of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan stand next to graffiti that reads "Long Live Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan," at a camp in a Pakistani tribal district of Mohmand agency, July 21, 2008.
A fighter affiliated with Syria's new administration checks his phone as he sits outside the defunct Mezzeh military prison overlooking the capital, Damascus, Jan. 2, 2025. A woman reacts near fighters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham during what HTS said were security checks to find "remnants" of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's force, in Wadi al-Dahab neighborhood in Homs, Syria, Jan. 2, 2025.
FILE - Donald Trump, then the Republicans' 2024 presidential nominee, is pictured with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, Sept. 27, 2024, in New York. A residential building is seen damaged by a Russian drone strike in the city center of Kyiv, Ukraine, in a photo provided Jan. 1, 2025, by the Ukrainian Emergency Service. A view of debris on a street from nearby buildings, hundreds of meters from Ukraine's Presidential Office, after a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 1 2025.
Police arrive at the gate of the presidential residence as supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally against a court's issuance of a warrant to detain Yoon, in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 3, 2025. Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally against a court's issuance of a warrant to detain Yoon, as police stand guard near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 3, 2025.
FILE - Vladimir Putin, who then was Russia's prime minister, autographs a natural gas pipeline in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok during the pipeline's launch ceremony, Sept. 8, 2011. A contract allowing Russian gas to transit across Ukraine expired Dec. 31, 2024. FILE - In this photo distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico prior to their talks in Moscow on Dec. 22, 2024. FILE - A view of Western Europe's largest liquefied natural gas plant, Hammerfest LNG, in Hammerfest, Norway, March 14, 2024.