Russia has closed its criminal investigation into the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) aircraft near Aktau, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from Baku, according to Azerbaijani news outlet Minval Politika.
Citing Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, the outlet reported that a letter from Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, notifying Baku of the case’s closure caused “serious surprise” on the Azerbaijani side. Bayramov stated that Azerbaijan had issued a detailed and principled response to the letter and expects the process to proceed in accordance with public commitments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Dushanbe, as well as bilateral agreements between the two countries.
The announcement came just days after Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport issued an interim update on its own investigation into the December 2024 crash of the Embraer E190 aircraft operated by AZAL. The update noted that accredited representatives from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Brazil are participating in the probe, alongside an observer from the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The crash occurred on December 25, 2024, when the aircraft was operating a scheduled passenger flight from Baku to Grozny. After multiple failed landing attempts in Grozny, the crew diverted to Aktau, on Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea coast. The plane reportedly circled the airfield twice before crashing near the runway and catching fire.
Of the 67 people aboard, 62 passengers and five crew members, 38 were killed. The remaining 29 survived, including two members of the flight crew.
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport emphasized that the sole objective of its ongoing investigation is to determine the causes and contributing factors of the accident to prevent similar incidents in the future. The final report, including safety recommendations, will be released once all technical analyses are complete.
In September, The Times of Central Asia reported that Russia had begun disbursing insurance payments related to the crash. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that AlfaStrakhovanie JSC, one of Russia’s largest insurers and currently under Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, began issuing compensation in February 2025. Azerbaijan Airlines reportedly received full compensation of 1.003 billion rubles (approximately $12.3 million) for the aircraft.
Additionally, insurance claims related to injuries and fatalities among 46 of the 62 passengers had been settled. These included payments to seven of the 15 Russian citizens, 35 of the 38 Azerbaijani citizens, all three Kyrgyz citizens, and one of the six Kazakh citizens on board. As of that date, total insurance payouts to injured passengers and the families of those killed amounted to 358.4 million rubles.
Russia’s decision does not affect the ongoing technical investigation being led by Kazakhstan.
