A Malaysian airliner shot down in 2014 was struck by a missile that had been moved from Russia into eastern Ukraine, where it was fired from a village controlled by pro-Russian rebels, international prosecutors said Wednesday.
There was “irrefutable evidence” that a Buk missile downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014, Dutch-led investigators announced in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands, The Guardian reported.
“MH17 was shot down by a 9M38 series missile, launched from a Buk-Telar. This Buk-Telar was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation, and after launch was subsequently returned to Russian Federation territory,” lead investigator Wilbert Paulissen said.
The findings contradict Moscow’s claims that the Boeing 777 — en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur — was brought down by the Ukrainian military. All 298 people aboard, most of whom were Dutch, perished.
Russia immediately slammed the findings.
“First-hand radar data identified all flying objects which could have been launched or were in the air over the territory controlled by rebels at that moment,” said Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s press spokesman, Reuters reported. “The data are clear-cut…there is no rocket. If there was a rocket, it could only have been fired from elsewhere.”
On Monday, the Russian military said it had new radio-location data that show the missile did not originate from rebel-controlled territory.
“If there was a rocket it could only have been launched from a different area,” Peskov told reporters.
Prosecutors cannot file charges because there is no international agreement on what court a case would be heard in. Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said the joint probe findings are designed to be solid enough to be used as evidence in a possible criminal trial.
The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team – comprising officials from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine — said its conclusion was based on plenty of supporting evidence including forensics, witness statements, satellite images, radar data and intercepted phone calls.
The missile exploded a few feet from the plane’s cockpit at 33,000 feet. Forensic evidence included fragments of the Buk missile found during autopsies of the cockpit crew.
The investigation found that the missile system was transported on a white Volvo truck and launched from the village of Pervomaysk, where pro-Russian fighters were in control.
Officials also identified about 100 people who were described as being of interest in connection with the missile’s transport or its firing, Reuters reported.
It was unclear if an order had been given for fighters to launch the missile or if they had done so independently, the prosecutors said.
Last year, a probe by the Dutch Safety Board concluded that the airliner had been downed by a Russian-made missile launched from eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry hailed the report, saying it pointed to Russia’s “direct involvement” in the disaster and is “an important milestone” in bringing to justice all those responsible, Reuters reported.
“This puts an end to all of Russia’s attempts to discredit activities of the Joint Investigation Team and conclusions by spreading distorted or fabricated information,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Russian missile-maker Almaz-Antey rejected the findings that one of its weapons was fired from rebel-held territory, claiming it was launched form territory held by the Ukrainian army, the RIA news agency reported.
At the time of the downing, pro-Russian separatists were fighting Ukrainian government forces in the area.
Eduard Basurin, a representative of the Russian-backed separatist forces in Donetsk, told The Guardian that the rebels couldn’t have shot down the plane because they don’t have Buk missiles.
Speaking before the news conference, Silene Fredriksz, whose son Bryce, 23, was on the plane with his girlfriend, Daisy Oehlers, said the victims’ families wanted justice.
“As a family we are impatient. We want to know what happened, how it happened and why. We want those responsible to face justice,” she said.
The downing played a significant part in a decision by the European Union and the US to impose sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict.
With Post Wires