Who was on duty when the AZAL plane was shot at

New information has emerged regarding the AZAL airline incident that occurred in December 2024. This was reported by Zamin.uz.

On July 24, the Azerbaijani publication Minval Politika published the names of all Russian military personnel who were on duty when the plane was shot at. However, the publication did not disclose its source, and so far, no other independent sources have confirmed this information.

According to the publication, the military personnel on duty at the time of the incident were: Captain Dmitriy Pudovkin, the senior navigator of the 51st Air Defense Division; Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Yanovskiy, the operational duty officer of the Southern Military District; and Colonel Gennadiy Yeremenko, from the command post of the 4th Air Defense Army. They were on duty at the time the missile was launched.

The Astra Telegram channel in Russia also confirmed the information published by Minval. The channel stated that these military individuals indeed served in the army based on information obtained from external sources.

Additionally, the Minval publication reported on July 22 that Major General Aleksandr Tolopilo, the commander of the 51st Air Defense Division, issued a direct order to strike the air target. This information became known during an internal service investigation involving Lieutenant Colonel Nikolay Orlyanskiy.

During the investigation, it was determined that he received an order from Tolopilo and subsequently instructed Captain Pudovkin to destroy the target.