Who is the Russian Foreign Ministry trying to deceive? About "payments" due to the AZAL plane crash

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement the day before, which they labeled as an “anti-fake,” regarding payments connected to the downing of an Azerbaijani plane over Grozny. It’s ironic that a statement marked “anti-fake” is itself misleading — an obvious attempt at narrative manipulation.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, insurance payments have been made over the past six months for both the destroyed aircraft (1 billion rubles) and for the families of those killed or injured — 354 million rubles. Here’s a quote from the statement:

“Since February 2025, the Russian insurance company AlfaStrakhovanie JSC has been providing insurance payments in connection with the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft (Baku–Grozny flight). The insurance indemnity for the aircraft was paid to the Azerbaijani airline in the amount of the full insured value — 1.003 billion rubles. Claims related to injuries and deaths of 46 out of 62 passengers on the flight have been fully settled, including payments for 7 out of 15 Russian citizens, 35 out of 38 Azerbaijani citizens, all 3 Kyrgyz citizens, and 1 out of 6 Kazakh citizens. As of today, insurance payments have been made to the injured passengers and relatives of the victims totaling 358.4 million rubles.”

Strictly speaking, Moscow’s statement essentially says: “What more do you want? We’ve paid compensation.”

Sounds reassuring, right? Not really.

Here’s the trick: Moscow is referring to insurance payments as compensation demanded by Baku. But it’s crucial to understand that these are standard insurance payments — a routine obligation of the insurer under international practice. This is not state compensation to the victims or their families, as officially demanded by Azerbaijan. Presenting routine insurance payouts as a sign of state-level accountability or meaningful resolution is misleading at best.

Secondly, the Russian Foreign Ministry claims the payments began six months ago. So why mention them now? Clearly, the aim is to create the illusion of a timely and complete response — which it absolutely is not.

And the most telling part of the statement is this:

“Attempts by a number of media outlets and bloggers to misinform the public on this sensitive issue leave no doubt about destructive intentions…”

So, any question, doubt, or demand for clarity is automatically labeled “disinformation”? Apparently, no one is planning to address the actual problems.

There are many questions for Moscow, but here’s the most urgent one: who is the Russian Foreign Ministry trying to deceive? Is this statement for domestic consumption, or is it aimed at Baku?

If it’s for a domestic audience, perhaps it will suffice — after all, Russia has long adopted a kind of “newspeak,” where an explosion is called a “pop,” and economic collapse is called “negative growth.”

But if Moscow genuinely thinks it can fool Baku with this narrative, then we have some bad news for you, comrades: It won’t work.