BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 5. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the preliminary report published yesterday by the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan about the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane crash near Aktau on December 25, 2024, Trend reports.
In answer to a query from Russian journalists, he made it clear that the Russian presidential administration "does not see fit" to weigh in on this matter.
At the same time, Peskov said that the relevant Russian authorities would carefully review the report.
To note, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport has released a preliminary report on the investigation of the AZAL Embraer-190 incident on February 4.
According to the report, the plane sustained multiple punctures from foreign metallic objects.
"The investigation commission continues to conduct a thorough examination of the aircraft’s structural damage. An initial inspection of the recovered fragments revealed numerous punctures and impact marks of varying sizes and shapes on the tail section, vertical and horizontal stabilizers, and control surfaces. Similar damage was found on the left engine, left wing, and other aircraft components. In some areas, the damage appears to be distinctly rectangular," the report stated.
Electronic warfare in Grozny, Russia, disrupted the navigation system of the AZAL plane.
The report shows that the crew had already reported navigation problems to the air traffic controller in Grozny at 04:26 (UTC), and the impact on the aircraft occurred at 05:13.
"At 05:13:31, the CVR recorded a sound indicating an impact, followed by the autopilot disengagement alarm. [...] At 05:13:56, a second impact sound was recorded," the report states
Additionally, the report presented photographs of the preliminary causes of the accident on the AZAL board, which clearly show hydraulic systems broken by air defense fragments.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel