Russia Declassifies Data On Missile That Downed MH17 Flight In 2014

Russia Declassifies Data on Missile That Downed MH17 Flight in 2014

The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday presented declassified files on the Buk missile that hit the MH17 flight in 2014, showing that the missile was made at Russia's Dolgoprudny Plant in 1986, delivered to a military unit in Ukraine and remained in the country after the USSR collapsed in 1991.

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2018) The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday presented declassified files on the Buk missile that hit the MH17 flight in 2014, showing that the missile was made at Russia's Dolgoprudny Plant in 1986, delivered to a military unit in Ukraine and remained in the country after the USSR collapsed in 1991.

Flight MH17 crashed with 298 people on board on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine, while en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, leaving no survivors. Kiev and self-proclaimed republics in Ukraine's southeast have blamed each other for the downing of Malaysia Airlines plane.

The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) concluded that the plane was brought down by the missile, which came from the 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, based near Russia's Kursk. The Russian Foreign Ministry refuted the conclusions as groundless and called the investigation biased.

MADE IN RUSSIA, DELIVERED TO UKRAINIAN FORCES

The missile in question was used by a military unit stationed in Ukraine's Stryi, which has been involved in the so-called anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Lt. Gen. Nikolai Parshin, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU), said Monday.

According to Parshin, the missile serial number, 8868720, shows that it was made at Dolgoprudny Plant in 1986.

The missile with this serial number was given number 886847379 in the military.

The missile was sent by train to Ukraine's 223 air defense regiment in 1986 and remained in Ukraine after the Soviet Union fell part in 1991. The regiment in question is currently deployed in the town of Stryi.

The Russian Defense Ministry presented an audio recording of a phone conversation, where a man, purportedly Ukrainian Armed Forces Col. Ruslan Grinchak, can be heard speaking of the possibility of downing "yet another Malaysian Boeing."

In 2014, Grinchak was responsible for the situation in the sky over the territory where an anti-terrorism operation was being carried out by the Ukrainian military.

The Russian Defense Ministry, however, believes that Kiev may continue denying its involvement in the plane crash.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Kiev might destroy all documents related to the missile that are kept in the archives of the 223 unit.

According to Parshin, the Buk missiles deployed on the Crimean peninsula were of a different type.

According to Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, all the information has already been sent to the Netherlands.

The JIT said it had taken note of the Russian Defense Ministry's presentation.

"The JIT will meticulously study the materials presented today as soon as the Russian Federation makes the relevant documents available to the JIT as requested in May 2018 and required by UNSC resolution 2166," the JIT said in a statement.

UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson and Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak have dismissed the information revealed by the Russian military as false.

Frank Creyelman, former senator and honorary representative in the Flemish parliament, stressed that any probes should be conducted by "neutral investigators."

"Till now that is not as such. Maybe a joint investigation between countries that do not have direct interest in this event could help. Specialists from neutral countries would be better than the political game that is obviously being played," Creyelman told Sputnik.

Andreas Maurer, the head of German Die Linke party group in the Quakenbrueck city council, said that under normal circumstances any new evidence would have to be checked by the relevant organizations and could not be ignored.

However, Maurer expressed doubt that the JIT would be able to conduct an unbiased investigation.

"Judging by the recent event, of course, I doubt it. We can see that the Russian side, the Russian Federation has always actively suggested and offered to investigate this as soon as possible, has been submitting information," the politician told Sputnik.

Maurer said he was hoping that the European media would pick up the story, which might influence the investigators in order to de-politicize the probe.

"Russia has serious arguments, serious confirmation, so, even in the difficult political situation where Europe and Russia are finding themselves, it will be more difficult to ignore them," Maurer said.