On 1 July 2025 Azerbeijan media published a statement of the commander of the Russia air defense battery that operated in Grozny, Chechnya, in December 2024 and a video of the battery firing at an aircraft that later came out to be the civilian Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243. The statement in full:

In response to the questions posed to me, I, Captain Dmitry Sergeyevich Paladichuk, can explain the following: I am the commander of BM No. 274, chief of the crew, and was on combat duty covering the city of Grozny from 24 December 2024 to 25 December 2024. At 05:40 on 25 December 2024, an order was received to go to alert level 1. At 05:48, I reported going to alert level 1 via mobile phone. Mobile phone reception was unstable at my position, and I had no other reliable means of communication. Fibre optic cables had been laid but were not connected to the terminal, and there was no digital telephone with a dial pad. At 08:11, the target detection station detected a potential target, which I took under precise guidance of the Multifunctional Radar System, which I reported to the 51st Division’s command post. At 08:13, I reported the updated coordinates: α = 338 degrees, D = 7000 m, H = 490 m, V = 118 m/s, heading 230 degrees. I received an order by telephone to destroy the target. The target was not visible in the optics due to very thick fog, which was reported to the VKP. At 08:13:30, I gave the order to fire to the operator. At 08:13:33, the missile veered off course. At 08:13:47, the BM-72V6 command post reported that the target had been missed. At 08:13:48, I gave the order to fire again. According to the MRLS, the first missile was launched when the target had the following coordinates: α = 319 degrees, D = 7300 m, H = 697 m, V = 80 m/s. The second missile was launched when the target had the following characteristics: α = 311 degrees, D = 8000 m, H = 1300 m, V = 120 m/s.

The statement and video were published by Azerbeijan's MinVal portal.