DISINFO: The MH17 crash was the first in a series of similar Ukrainian provocations, like Bucha
SUMMARY
The Boeing 777 crash was needed by Kyiv and the West to justify military and political pressure on Russia. Russia did everything to show the world community the truth about the Boeing 777 tragedy – the necessary data was transmitted, an investigation was conducted. But the West ignored it.
The tragedy was the first in a series of similar Ukrainian provocations aimed against Moscow.
The fabricated version of the causes of the disaster was supported by the Netherlands, whose citizens died in this tragedy. All of this is based on the logic of double, and sometimes triple standards, and the policy of lies. Ukraine lost its sovereignty after the coup, turning into an instrument of pressure on Russia. At some point, the situation gained such momentum that a special operation became simply inevitable.
Kyiv is resorting to such provocations not only to beg for another financial tranche from sponsors, but also to demonstrate an allegedly successful confrontation with Moscow, as well as to manipulate public opinion. Our opponents have set themselves the goal of demonizing Russia to the absolute. This is precisely why such terrible tragedies as the orchestrated Bucha and other provocations have appeared, repeating the same scenario over and over again.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation about downing of flight MH17 and attempt to discredit the Joint Investigative Team (JIT) and the criminal trial.
In November 2022, a Dutch court sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian in absentia to life imprisonment for their role in the disaster.
The three men convicted were former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader. The three were all found to have helped to arrange the transport into Ukraine of the Russian military BUK missile system that was used to shoot down the plane, though they were not the ones that physically pulled the trigger.
The verdict of the court published on 17 November 2022 was based on strong pieces of evidence and alternative scenarios were excluded based on the evidence.
The Court in its ruling stated that there is no doubt that the MH17 was hit by a Buk missile fired from a farm field near Pervomaiskyi in Ukraine. This field was located in separatist-controlled territory. "This is clear from photographs of a smoke trail in the sky, statements by a protected witness, satellite images, intercepted telephone conversations and transmission mast data, photographs and videos of a Buk TELAR being brought in and removed, and examination of fragments in the remains of a crew member and in the truss and the groove of the aircraft. Investigation in the Netherlands and abroad has not revealed any traces of evidence tampering. Alternative scenarios, for example that the Buk missile was fired from a different area, are ruled out based on the evidence," stated in the final verdict.
As for Bucha, in late March of 2022, Russian armed forces had lost the battle for Kyiv, which started with an air assault on 24 February. Brave Ukrainian resistance forced Russian troops to withdraw from the town of Bucha as part of a broader retreat from the capital. Immediately, reports surfaced of dead bodies in the streets. Many were Ukrainian civilians killed in executions, their hands tied behind their backs. Macabre photos accompanied the accounts from local eyewitnesses. Since the massacre, multiple investigations, including a detailed UN report, have established Russian culpability for the attacks.
The New York Times has identified 36 of the victims along Yablunska Street. An eight-month visual investigation by The New York Times concluded that the perpetrators of the massacre along Yablunska Street were Russian paratroopers from the 234th Air Assault Regiment led by Lt. Col. Artyom Gorodilov.
Evidence includes photos and videos by Bucha survivors, CCTV footage, satellite footage, and details of calls to Russia made by perpetrators from the phones of murdered victims.
Despite this, Kremlin continues to claim "the Bucha's fabrication".
The model example is the myriad mutually exclusives falsehoods distributed after the downing of MH-17, a Malaysian airliner destroyed on 17 July 2014 by Russian forces, killing all 298 persons on board. The same with Moscow’s attempts to cover up after the horrific attacks on Mariupol during the spring of 2022. See our account here.