MH17 missile 'came from Russia', Dutch-led investigators say
- by Leah Brady
- in Worldwide
- — Oct 2, 2016
The team found that MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014, by a Buk surface-to-air missile fired from Russian-backed, separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.
A day after an worldwide team released a report concluding that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed by a Russian-made missile fired from rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine, Malaysia's transport minister stressed that the country remains resolute in calling for justice to be served.
The ground to air missile, Buk that shot down the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 over the Ukraine in July 2014 was sacked from an area controlled by the pro-Russian separatists.
JIT members carried out the operation with investigators from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
However, Paulissen played two recorded telephone calls between Russian soldiers the moment the plane came down.
"The conclusions are aimed at only one thing - to further marginalise the image of Russia in the worldwide political and informational space", said Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eurasian Integration.
Ahead of its release, Russian Federation has sought to discredit the Dutch investigation, and on Monday its military released what it claimed was radar images showing the missile could not have been fired by the rebels.
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Eduard Basurin, from the Donetsk People's Republic rebel group, told the Interfax news agency: "We never had such air defense systems, nor the people who could operate them". "Therefore we could not have shot down the Boeing [flight MH17]".
But earlier this week, Russian authorities say they have radar reports showing that there was no missile launch detected from that area on July 17, 2014.
He also disputed the report.
The first conversation, he said, showed a request for a Buk missile and the second that one had been delivered. "Also, some countries hide or refuse to provide large amounts of information, such as radar data and so on".
The team said they believe the missile was brought into Ukraine from Russian Federation, and was later launched from a village held by independence-seeking rebels. It said it would give that data to investigators. "This is a thing that can not be argued and must not be discussed". All 298 on board of the plane died.
"A very thorough Dutch-led report on the MH17 atrocity, confirming that a Russian missile downed the plane", he tweeted.
