President Ilham Aliyev speaking on a press conference ridicules another Russian conspiracy theory regarding downing of AZAL 8243 in December 2024 over Russia's Grozny, this time postulating that it was "Ukrainian drone" that hit the civilian aircraft. Aliyev says "we know exactly what happened", referring to the technical investigation report describing two shrapnel surface-to-air missiles as the primary cause of the crash. In July 2025 Azerbaijan media also published video and testimony of a Russian air defense commander from Grozny who explained his battery fired two missiles against an "unidentified target". Its identity could not be clearly established due to technical problems with connection links of the battery, nonetheless upper rank ordered to fire.