DISINFO: Buk missile that shot down MH17 was Ukrainian and shot from Kyiv-controlled territory
SUMMARY
Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Vinnichenko told RIA Novosti that the Russian side had provided the Netherlands not only with Russian radar data, but also with documents proving that the BUK missile that hit the Boeing had belonged to Ukraine and had been fired from Kyiv-controlled territory. However, investigators had ignored this information.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the downing of Flight MH17.
The Dutch-led criminal investigation by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been ongoing since 2014. On 28 September 2016, the JIT announced that Flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by a BUK TELAR missile system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the town of Pervomaiskyi in Eastern Ukraine, from where the missile was launched. After firing, the system - with 1 missing missile - went back to the Russian Federation. On the 24th of May 2018, the JIT announced its conclusion that the BUK TELAR used to shoot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces from Kursk in the Russian Federation.
On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, consisting of law enforcement agencies from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands, the Dutch Public Persecution service persecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of MH17 and murdering all 298 persons on board. The Public Prosecution Service alleges that the four individuals cooperated to obtain and deploy the BUK TELAR at the firing location with the aim of shooting down an aircraft. For that reason, they can also be held jointly accountable for downing flight MH17. The conclusion is corroborated by Bellingcat research. The public hearing started on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. Proceedings resumed again in June 2021 after delays caused by the coronavirus lockdown.
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