On 25 December 2024, Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243 that was flying from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Grozny (Russian Federation) crashed attempting an emergency landing at Aktau airport in Kazakhstan. The crash killed 38 people and left 29 survivors. According to preliminary reports by the Kazakh and Azerbaijani authorities, expert analyses and multiple news sources, the downing of the plane is believed to have involved Russian military action. As of August 2025, the official investigation remains ongoing, with final conclusions and potential legal actions pending.
The Parliamentary Assembly should prepare a report on the causes and the circumstances of the downing of Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243. It should evaluate the current international investigation in light of the Council of Europe’s human rights standards and propose ways to strengthen accountability mechanisms. The investigation must be transparent and comprehensive; all those responsible must be brought to justice, and the victims and their families must be offered full compensation.
On 9 July 2025, the European Court of Human Rights has held the Russian Federation accountable for the downing of MH17 flight in 2014 (Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia [GC]). According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the shooting down of civilian aircraft near war zones has become the leading cause of death in commercial aviation in recent years. The Assembly should therefore also consider possible international mechanisms to better prevent such risks to human life.