Kazakhstan’s Transport Ministry has released the interim findings of its investigation into the fatal Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) crash on 25 December 2024, which killed 38 people, stating that the damage to the aircraft ‘was presumably caused by the impact of warhead elements’.
However, the report said that establishing the origin of the warhead was impossible.
The investigators also reported that during the ‘comprehensive forensic examination’ disclosed that there were ‘no traces of explosive substances’ from on board the aircraft, providing further substantive evidence against early claims that the crash may have been caused by an explosion from within the plane.
The Azerbaijani state-run media outlet Azertac wrote that the report is part of an ongoing investigation ‘in accordance with Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation’.
‘The investigation is being conducted by the Kazakh Transport Ministry with the participation of representatives from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Azerbaijan, Brazil, and Russia. In addition to this investigation, the investigative authorities of the three countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia) are also conducting a criminal investigation into the accident within their jurisdiction]’, wrote Azertac.
The final report which covered the result of the investigation was not finished by the time of the anniversary, that is why ‘Kazakhstan, in accordance with ICAO requirements, released the corresponding interim statement to the public’, noted Azertac.
According to Azertac, the final report will be more detailed and will reflect ‘all the factual information uncovered during the investigation, an analysis of the causes of the accident, and recommendations for preventing similar accidents in the future’.
The plane crash set off a cascading deterioration of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia that lasted for the better part of a year.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin ultimately apologised for the incident in a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in October and promised that all necessary legal measures would be taken, and that Russia would pay compensation.
Nate Ostiller
Despite this pledge, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Russia Rahman Mustafayev told the Russian media outlet Lenta.ru on Thursday that Russia has not distributed any compensation funds yet.
‘We hope that all issues related to financial compensation and the prosecution of those responsible for this tragedy will be resolved promptly, in the spirit of the strategic partnership and allied cooperation that binds our countries. The statements and agreements made in Dushanbe on 9 October represent an important step in this direction’, emphasised Mustafayev.
The following day, however, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stated that Aleksandr Bastrykin, chair of Russia’s Investigative Committee, ‘sent a letter about the termination of the criminal case, which caused serious surprise in Azerbaijan’, wrote the Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet APA.
Bayramov stressed that they will present ‘an appropriate and detailed position on that letter by the relevant authorities’.
‘Our expectation is that the process will be concluded in line with the discussions held between the leaders of the two countries. I believe that this issue will also be clarified’.
Nate Ostiller
