On the anniversary of the crash, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport confirmed external damage to the AZAL plane.

The interim results of the investigation into the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane near Aktau have shown that it was damaged by the striking elements of the warhead, their origin has not been established. No traces of explosives were found on board, the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan stated.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced the preparation of documents to file claims in international courts regarding the crash of the AZAL plane, since Russia did not admit guilt and did not punish those responsible for the deaths. Soon after, the Azerbaijani publication Minval published the names of the Russian military personnel involved in the crash of the AZAL plane. The commander of one of the divisions, who gave the order to shoot down the plane, was promoted after the crash, the journalists indicated. On October 9, in Dushanbe, Vladimir Putin informed Ilham Aliyev that two missiles fired by the Russian air defense system did not directly hit the AZAL plane, but exploded several meters away. The preconditions for resolving the diplomatic crisis between Russia and Azerbaijan were Moscow's recognition of responsibility for the AZAL plane crash and the payment of compensation. Putin's statement in Dushanbe on this issue ensured the opportunity to normalize relations in the interests of both sides, analysts said. On the eve of the anniversary of the AZAL plane crash in Kazakhstan, a monument was unveiled in Grozny in memory of the victims.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport today published an interim report on the investigation into the causes of the AZAL plane crash.

The plane that crashed near Aktau was presumably damaged by warhead fragments, but their origin has not been determined. "The examination revealed no traces of explosives. There were no traces of an explosion on the three oxygen cylinders submitted for examination. The damage to the aircraft was presumably caused by the warhead's striking elements, but their origin could not be determined," states the report, which was posted today on the website of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan.

A traceological examination of part of the tube of hydraulic system No. 2 showed that the tube was damaged. The mechanism of damage is metal rupture as a result of contact between solid objects. Through damage can be caused by metal fragments (external objects) made of an iron-based metal alloy (steel is the base), the document states.

The report also states that specialists were unable to extract data from the Central Maintenance Computer cassette; negotiations are underway with a US representative to conduct an examination at the Delkin Devices Inc. plant. Analysis of the Global Positioning System (GPS1 and GPS2) data cassettes is also underway.

The Ministry of Transport also reported that the completion date for the investigation into the causes of the Embraer 190 crash depends on the completion of all assigned studies and work. "The sole purpose of the investigation into the aviation accident is to prevent similar incidents in the future," the statement reads.

"The Investigation Commission is taking a balanced approach, and all conclusions will be objective, based solely on facts. The final report on the investigation into the aviation accident will be published on the website of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan," the statement reads.

The ministry notes that, in addition to the investigation into the air crash being conducted by the Air Crash Investigation Commission of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a criminal investigation is being conducted by law enforcement agencies in Kazakhstan.

On December 28, 2024, Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and apologized "due to the fact that the tragic incident" involving the AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) plane "occurred in Russian airspace." On December 29, Aliyev publicly demanded that Russia admit responsibility for the plane crash, and on January 6, he criticized the Russian authorities for refusing to admit guilt and demanded that those responsible for the crash be punished. Ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan marked a new turn in the deterioration of relations between the two countries. Baku accuses Russian authorities of extrajudicial reprisals against Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Crisis in Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia."

Ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan marked a new turn in the deterioration of relations between the two countries. Baku accuses Russian authorities of extrajudicial killings of Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Crisis in Azerbaijan-Russia Relations".

On June 28, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called on Russian authorities to investigate the deaths and injuries of Azerbaijanis who suffered as a result of a special operation by security forces in Yekaterinburg on June 27. Experts in Baku named blunt force trauma as the cause of death for brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov, while the Russian side cited a heart attack. On June 30, Azerbaijani security forces searched the office of the Russian news agency Sputnik Azerbaijan and detained two people, calling them agents of the Russian special services; they were arrested. Also on July 1, a court arrested eight Russian citizens detained on charges of drug trafficking and cybercrime.

On October 10, it was announced that Sputnik Azerbaijan Executive Director Igor Kartavykh and one of the Azerbaijanis arrested in Russia were released. The decision was agreed upon before the meeting between Putin and Aliyev in Dushanbe.

Materials on the deterioration of relations between the two countries have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "The Collapse of Ties between Baku and Moscow".