x     Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly admitted on Thursday that his country's air defenses were responsible for the Dec. 25, 2024, downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Brazilian-manufactured Embraer 190 jet, which killed 38 people. Putin stated that the plane, flying from Baku and preparing to land in Grozny (Chechnya, Russia), was hit by fragments/debris from missiles fired by Russian air defenses attempting to intercept a Ukrainian drone. Azerbaijani authorities had previously