Putin 'supplied' MH17 missile - investigators

By George Wright
BBC News
8 February 2023, 12:31 GMT




IMAGE SOURCE,
REUTERS

Image caption,

The wreckage of MH17 was painstakingly reassembled in the Netherlands and later inspected as part of the trial


There are strong indications that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to supply the missile that downed flight MH17 in 2014, international investigators say.

The aircraft was hit by a Russian-made missile over Ukraine, killing nearly 300 people.

Prosecutors said there is evidence that Mr Putin decided to provide the missile to Moscow-backed separatists.

There is no suggestion that Mr Putin ordered the aircraft be shot down.

In November, a Dutch court found three men - two Russians and a Ukrainian - guilty of murder in absentia for their part in the downing of MH17.

The prosecutors said on Wednesday that they had exhausted all leads and could not continue with any more criminal proceedings.

The Boeing 777 was flying from the Dutch capital to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile in July 2014 during a conflict between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Of the 298 passengers and crew, 196 were Dutch while many of the other passengers came from Malaysia, Australia, the UK, Belgium and other countries.

In a statement, the Joint Investigation Team said the court ruled that Moscow had "overall control" over the Donetsk People's Republic, which controlled the area in July 2014.

It cited recorded telephone conversations where Russian officials said that the decision to provide military support "rests with the President".

"There is concrete information that the separatists' request was presented to the president, and that this request was granted," it said.

But it adds that is not known whether the request "explicitly mentions" the system used to shoot down MH17.

"Although we speak of strong indications, the high bar of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached," investigators said.

"Furthermore, the President enjoys immunity in his position as Head of State."

Video caption,


The Dutch Safety Board released an animated video showing the flight path of the plane

The Joint Investigation Team is made up of members from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine - the countries worst affected by the shooting down of MH17.

The team wanted to prove the identities of the missile's crew members, and who was in the chain of command, but admitted that was not possible for now.

Russia denies all involvement and dismissed last year's Dutch verdict as "scandalous" and politically motivated.

Piet Ploeg lost his brother, his brother's wife, and nephew on MH17. He said he was glad prosecutors had laid out their evidence for Mr Putin's involvement.

"We can't do a lot with it, Putin can't be prosecuted," he told Reuters. "We wanted to know who was ultimately responsible and that's clear."

In January, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed it would hear a separate Dutch case against Russia over the downing of MH17.

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Putin's Campaign Continues—So Does Ukraine's

We welcome support from the international community and hope it expands as we move against Russia's aggression.



By
OLEXANDER MOTSYK
Aug. 7, 2014 7:26 p.m. ET

Almost three weeks have passed since the appalling shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by pro-Russian terrorists over eastern Ukraine. The terrorist act, in which 298 souls perished, was seen as a potential turning point in the continuing military confrontation imposed on Ukraine by Russia. But if anyone expected the tragedy to reverse the Kremlin's policy to destabilize its western neighbor, that turned out not to be the case.

In fact, the situation has gotten worse. Instead of rethinking its hostile strategy, Moscow has decided to double down on escalating tensions. The flow of Russian mercenaries and military equipment into Ukraine has not stopped, nor has the increasing Russian military presence along the Ukrainian border. And now Russian forces have begun armed confrontation in the form of constant artillery and rocket attacks on Ukrainian military positions, attacks launched from within Russia.

The deaths of innocent civilians have not ceased with the terrorist act against Flight 17 either, as every day inhabitants of eastern Ukrainian cities fall victim to the shelling of residential areas by pro-Russian terrorists.

Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltseve, on Wednesday. EPA

What's more, the Kremlin keeps trying to shift the blame for the attack on the Malaysia Airlines plane—in the worst tradition of its propaganda machine. In Moscow's false version, information about the disaster is being manipulated in an effort to implicate Ukraine, and even the United States, in a mass murder that was perpetrated by Russian-backed terrorists armed with Russian surface-to-air missiles.

The international community is thus compelled to take a common stand against Russia's actions. Last week's announcement that new sanctions will be imposed by the U.S. and European Union on the Russian regime was a necessary and important step. It shows that the leading democracies of the world do not intend to stand aside while an aggressor attempts to strip a sovereign nation of the right to determine its own future. Vladimir Putin's announcement Wednesday that Russia will retaliate by banning some foodstuff imports from the U.S. and EU means that the Russian people will suffer doubly from the consequences of their government's illegal behavior toward Ukraine.

The policy of imposing a cost on Russia for its actions shows that the West realizes the implications of the assault on Ukraine: It is a matter of global security. Today, Ukrainians sacrifice their lives for the sake of democratic values, peace and security—countering Moscow's attempts to reverse the course of history and plunge all of Europe back into the darkness of the Cold War era.

Since sanctions alone have not yet changed the Kremlin's maleficent calculus, however, Ukraine—the country I represent in Washington—calls on the U.S. and Europe to take a next logical step: Designate the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics" in Ukraine—proclaimed by Russian-backed militants—as foreign terrorist organizations. Anyone who sponsors them would become a sponsor of terrorism.

Meanwhile, and despite intermittent delays and all the obstacles, including those posed by Russian-backed terrorists, more than 100 international experts have been working on the Malaysia Airlines crash site, trying to determine circumstances of Flight 17's destruction. Ukraine is doing everything in its power to ensure that there will be a transparent and unprejudiced investigation. We are determined to establish the truth so that grieving families all over the world will know what happened to their loved ones.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military is advancing in its effort to liberate our people from terrorist oppression in the east and return peace to our land. This would not have been possible without valuable help and moral support from our American and European partners. We highly appreciate this assistance—including political and economic support—and hope that such efforts will be expanded.

Ukraine's success on the battlefield has not affected our commitment to a diplomatic resolution of the conflict. A peace plan supported by international community was put forward by Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko as soon as he assumed office after his May 25 election, and it remains on the table.

We are confident that the truth is on our side, and that before long the Russia-imposed violence in Ukraine's east will be a thing of the past. But this will only happen if the international community, led by the U.S., remains united and decisive in supporting Ukraine and countering the aggressor.

Mr. Motsyk is Ukraine's ambassador to the United States.

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There Were Multiple Warnings About The Dangers Of Flying In Ukrainian Airspace Prior To Malaysian Plane Crash

BRIEFING


HUNTER WALKER, PAMELA ENGEL, ELENA HOLODNY

JUL 18, 2014, 7:29 AM 

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed in eastern Ukraine Thursday may have been on a course for airspace that was closed to civilian aircraft by American and Ukrainian officials due to the ongoing violence in the region.

Earlier this month, Russian news agency ITAR TASS reported the Ukrainian aviation authority closed the airspace in the eastern part of the country to civilian aircraft in light of military operations in the area. The region, which sits along Ukraine’s border with Russia, has been the center of fighting between Ukranian forces and pro-Russian separtists in the wake of Yanukovych’s ouster. Several Ukranian jets have been shot down during the fighting including at least two on Wednesday.

In April, the Federal Aviation Administration banned American planes from flying over the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its surrounding waters. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a territorial dispute over Crimea, which is in the south of the country, in the aftermath of the ouster of pro-Kremlin Ukranian President President Viktor Yanukovych following widespread protests in February.

An FAA “special notice” on Ukraine issued in April warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” in Ukrainian airspace, “particularly over Crimea.” The FAA has not responded to requests for comment from Business Insider about what notices are currently in effect regarding flights over Ukrainian airspace.

The FAA isn’t the only government agency that has attempted to deter civilian aircraft from flying over portions of Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines confirmed it “lost contact” with MH17, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in a Twitter post Thursday. According to FlightAware, MH17 was last tracked just over the Ukrainian border in the northwestern part of the country.

FlightAware also indicated MH17 should have been on a path that would have taken it over Western Ukraine, not the volatile eastern part of the country. That flight path would have taken the plane near Crimea. However, the air traffic site Flightradar24 showed the plane’s final signal came from the east of the country. The security intelligence firm Stratfor also noted the plane reportedly went down near Shakhtyorsk, Ukraine in the east near the Russian border.

Malaysia Airlines has not responded to multiple requests from Business Insider about the crash and whether the plane was flying over Eastern Ukraine.

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