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Kazakhstan Issues Interim Findings on 2024 AZAL Crash as Russia Repeats Drone Claim

An interim Kazakh report cites warhead fragment damage without assigning blame.

Overview

  • The Kazakh transport ministry says the AZAL Embraer 190 was damaged over Russian territory, crossed the Caspian, and crashed on approach to Aktau, killing 38 with 29 survivors.
  • Examinations found steel-based metal fragments and a ruptured hydraulic tube consistent with impact by hard external objects, with no blast traces on three oxygen cylinders.
  • Investigators report damage consistent with warhead fragments yet say the origin of those fragments has not been established.
  • Russia restated that Ukrainian drones were the primary trigger, and in October President Vladimir Putin said Russian air-defence missiles exploded near the jet while engaging drones and pledged compensation.
  • A multinational commission including representatives from Azerbaijan, Brazil and Russia with an ICAO observer is continuing its work, with a final report to be posted by Kazakhstan’s transport ministry, though no specific date has been set beyond an earlier pledge to deliver by December 2025.