DISINFO: Main reason for MH17 crash is Ukraine's failure to close airspace
SUMMARY
The crash of the MH17 passenger craft was caused by Ukraine’s failure to close its airspace over the rebel held areas of the Donbas. Ukraine is, thus, the main party responsible for the tragedy.
RESPONSE
The report fits the recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on Flight MH17. The "source" does not base his/her claim on any factual evidence, and merely voices an opinion ("one has to admit…") that Ukraine should be held responsible for the downing. The claim that Ukrainian airspace had been open prior to the crash is false -- all traffic over the conflict zone had been prohibited to craft flying below 32,000ft; MH17 passed the area at 33,000ft. At the time, there was nothing to suggest that the presumably ill-equipped pro-Russian separatists would have access to sophisticated weapons capable of shooting down an air plane at that height. Background Many competing and contradictory stories promulgated by Russian state-controlled media on MH17. The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy (or: Pervomaiskyi). At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH-17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. On 24 May 2018, JIT stated that the BUK-TELAR that was used to down MH17 originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation.