On September 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that reports in certain media outlets and on Telegram about the non-payment of insurance funds related to the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) crash near Aktau on December 25, 2024, were false. In its statement, the ministry emphasized, "We are dealing with another speculation on the tragedy in a familiar, cynical style, calculated for an emotional reaction from the audience. Such insinuations do not correspond to reality. This is a lie." It clarified that since February 2025, the Russian insurance company AlfaStrakhovanie JSC had been making insurance payments for the crash of the Baku-Grozny flight. According to the ministry, AZAL received compensation in the amount of 1.003 billion rubles, the full insured value of the aircraft.

The ministry added that claims related to the injuries and deaths of 46 of the 62 passengers had been fully settled, including payments for 7 of 15 Russian citizens, 35 of 38 Azerbaijani citizens, all 3 Kyrgyz citizens, and 1 of 6 Kazakh citizens. A total of 358.4 million rubles had been paid to injured passengers and the relatives of the deceased. The ministry accused certain media and bloggers of deliberately misleading the public, stating, "We urge you not to succumb to obvious speculation and information leaks, especially such low-grade ones. Once again, we recommend being vigilant, maintaining digital hygiene, and relying only on official information and trusting verified sources."

On September 5, Aykhan Hajizada, the head of the Press Service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, expressed dissatisfaction with the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement, noting that its remarks on insurance payments "cause confusion among the public." Hajizada stressed that the insurance payments made by a Russian company to AZAL and passengers were separate from Azerbaijan’s demands for compensation from the Russian government over the downed aircraft. He explained that "these payments are made in accordance with the AZAL insurance contract," and highlighted that, due to the absence of international insurers in Russia, the aircraft was insured through a Russian company. He emphasized that equating these payments with Azerbaijan’s compensation demands was "incorrect."

Hajizada also criticized the Russian Foreign Ministry for "incorrectly" linking the arrest of 13 Russian citizens in Azerbaijan in July to the deterioration of Azerbaijani-Russian relations and suggesting their release as a condition for improvement. According to him, the real cause of the tension was the crash of the AZAL plane and the subsequent actions of Russian officials. He further claimed that "the persecution of Azerbaijanis in Russia on ethnic grounds, cases of beatings and murders of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, as well as the activities of various Russian government agencies directed against the interests of Azerbaijan are additional factors that have exacerbated the tension."