DISINFO: Russia on MH17: Until today, no evidence is provided - only empty claims
SUMMARY
Allegations towards Russia in the downing of flight MH17 are groundless. Even to this day, no evidence has been provided – only empty claims. Dutch prosecutors say that an investigation is underway, while Russia has already been asked for compensation. If we ask where the data from Ukrainian radars are, where the airlines’ communications data are, where the American satellite images are, we get no answers. However, Russia still gets the blame.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the downing of flight MH17. Actually, the JIT has provided concrete evidence of Russia's involvement. On the 28th of 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, where the missile was launched. After firing, the system - with 1 missing missile – was transported 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, with the participation of law enforcement agencies from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands, the Dutch Public Persecution service will prosecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the MH17 crash 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 JIT conclusions were further corroborated by the Bellingcat Investigation Team. For the full Bellingcat report see here.