So she commented on the statement of her New Zealand colleague Winston Peters, who doubted that Russia was responsible for the tragedy. International investigators claim that the plane was shot down by a Buk air defense missile system from an area controlled by the DPR.
The data of the Russian radar station indicate that the launch was made from the territory where the air defense systems of Ukraine were located. According to experts, in the West they began to understand that the case was being conducted unprofessionally and deliberately being delayed.
Why politicians started talking about the non-involvement of the Russian Federation in the catastrophe over Donbass, RT found out.
"Contradicts the interests of the country"
Australian Foreign Minister Julia Bishop said that it is not worth talking about any conclusions on the investigation by the international Joint Investigation Group (JIT) of the crash of the Malaysian Boeing MH17 over Donbas on July 17, 2014. Of the 298 killed, 38 were Australian citizens.
“The investigation is ongoing and when it is completed, the results will be passed on to prosecutors for legal action, which Australia also strongly supports,” the Australian Foreign Minister said. "It is impossible to form an opinion on the evidence, since it has not yet been made public."
Previously, Bishop made much more confident statements on this score. So, in October 2016, she argued that it was necessary to find those responsible for the destruction of the aircraft "in the Russian military command."
"V recent times Australia's policy has changed, it has become less confrontational with respect to Russia, "Mikhail Alexandrov, an expert at the Center for Military-Political Research at MGIMO, said in an interview with RT.
The political scientist attributes this change to losses from anti-Russian sanctions and the departure from the post of Prime Minister in 2015, who made anti-Russian statements, Tony Abbott.
Bishop's new statement came after her New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters said in an interview with local Newshub that there was evidence of Russian involvement in the destruction civil aircraft no.
“You say that the person who launched the rocket did so at the direction of Russia. A big problem is that your argument from a legal point of view immediately sags, because you have no proof of this, "- said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand.
Speaking about the proposal to resume negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone with Russia that were interrupted in 2014, Peters stressed that his country could not waste time waiting for the outcome of the investigation.
“If, according to the results, it turns out that these insinuations have no factual confirmation, then we will simply waste time, and this does not meet the interests of our country,” the minister said.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters Reuters
Source: http://rusvesna.su/news/1520968587
“There really is no evidence,” Aleksandrov notes. - And the involvement of the Donbass militias has not been proven either. Much indicates that it was the Kiev regime that shot down the plane. Both New Zealanders and Australians understand this. But the New Zealanders are more free in their statements, and the Australians are still connected with the United States by the ANZUS military treaty ( New Zealand and the US tore up the military cooperation agreement back in 1987), so they are more cautious. "
Illegal investigation
The criminal investigation into the Malaysian Airlines Boeing MH17 crash has been going on for four years - since the establishment of the Joint Investigation Group (JIT) on August 4, 2014, which included representatives from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
On October 13, 2015, the Netherlands Security Council published the results of a technical investigation, in which it stated that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, which is part of the Buk, Buk-M1 and Buk-M1-2 air defense systems. ... In October 2016, the JIT stated that the rocket was launched from the area of the villages of Pervomayskoye and Snezhnoye, which was controlled by the DPR militias.
As the expert noted in an interview with RT The International Organization civil aviation(ICAO) Vitaly Bordunov, JIT is, in principle, an illegitimate institution from the point of view of international law.
“If these were decent, normal people who really respected international law, they would have done the right thing. Ukraine should have organized an appropriate investigation together with Malaysia, which was not done, ”the expert notes.
According to Bordunov, the Boeing MH17 crash over Donbas falls under Article 26 and Appendix 13 of the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.
According to the document, Ukraine, as the country where the tragedy occurred, had to conclude an investigation agreement with Malaysia, which owned the aircraft, and not with the Netherlands, and register it according to ICAO rules. The agreement was also to be tested for compliance with the principles of the Chicago Convention. This procedure implies ICAO oversight of the investigation. None of this was done.
“This international commission was created outside the framework of international law, it is headed by a local police officer in a small Dutch town, where there are no specialists, nothing,” the expert emphasizes.
All this is typical of the current situation in the world, if anything, Russia is to blame. It doesn't matter that there is no evidence. "
According to the expert, "ICAO is on the sidelines," and the investigation itself looks more like a "conspiracy" to accuse Russia.
In October 2016, Moscow passed on primary radar data to the investigation, which cast doubt on the conclusions of the Joint Investigation Team on the launch of the missile that shot down MH17.
“As already stated by both the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and representatives of the Almaz-Antey concern, when a rocket is launched from Pervomayskoye, mandatory would be reflected on the radar data. And this is not reflected on the radar, "said Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry in November 2018.
However, the investigation has not yet responded to this information.
“As experts note, all this is simply registered, everything can be seen in this scenario, but they did not pay attention to our data, as if they didn’t exist,” Bordunov said.
Bias factor
On March 12, 2018, the Dutch investigative journalism program Zembla announced the names of the main suspects in the destruction of the plane.
They are allegedly the former DPR Defense Minister Igor Strelkov, his subordinate Sergei Dubinsky and the retired Colonel General of the Russian Armed Forces Nikolai Tkachev. Allegedly, these names were reported to the investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine.
Earlier, journalists, including Australian ones, have repeatedly come out with similar "sensationalism" revelations, however, according to Bordunov, "this is a lime tree, from a legal point of view, this evidence cannot be taken seriously."
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly noted the special attitude of the Joint Investigation Group towards Ukraine. In particular, there is no negative reaction to the fact that Kiev is hiding part of the information: it refuses to provide data on the negotiations of military dispatchers and the location of the Ukrainian air defense systems of the Buk family. At the same time, Russia, unlike Ukraine, does not have the status of a full-fledged member of the JIT. In addition, the JIT uses as evidence Bellingcat's "investigation" based on data from social media.
“In legal language, this is called bias, unwillingness to figure out who did what,” says the ICAO expert. "And if so, then, how long this investigation will last, I do not know, there are games going on here."
On February 22, 2018, the Dutch Ministry of Justice announced the extension of the investigation until 2019, although earlier it was going to publish the results in early 2018. The department announced this in a report to parliament.
According to the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the remains of the victims are still being collected four years after the disaster. Nevertheless, despite the incompleteness of the investigation, The Hague “is preparing to start trial". And although the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands claims that it has familiarized itself with the report of Russian specialists, the conclusions drawn from it have not been announced.
“There is no clarity on this issue,” Bordunov said. "There is only one conversation that Russia is to blame for everything."
In October 2017 Supreme Court Netherlands allowed the government not to publish the results of the investigation of the Joint Investigation Team.
“They cannot tell the truth,” says Mikhail Alexandrov. - If you confirm the non-involvement of Russia and the Donbass militias, then you have to blame Ukraine. And this will be a politically strong blow to Kiev. "
According to the expert, as soon as the investigation recognizes that Ukraine shot down the plane, this one will call into question the relations of this country with Europe, which neither the US, nor NATO, nor the EU will agree to.
“They cannot lie openly, they cannot admit the truth, so they are delaying,” Aleksandrov summed up.
In eastern Ukraine, she accused the Russian armed forces of involvement in the disaster. The JIT experts did not report anything new. At the same time, the investigators again passed over in silence the most controversial allegations of the "Russian trace".
We know, but we won't tell
"The investigation team examined all available images and established that the Buk air defense missile system has a number of unique features <…>It has been established that the air defense missile system that shot down Boeing came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade from Kursk, Russian Federation, "said Wilbert Paulissen, head of the investigation department of the Netherlands National Police.
The team members, after comparing dozens of images, concluded that the "unique features" point to a Buk in service with the Russian brigade. Details - which photographs were compared and which unique features were identified by the investigators - are not reported.
The investigation suspects about a hundred people in the preparation of the missile launch, but their names were not announced.
Rocket from the past
The following "proof" is also given: the number of the missile, parts of which were found together with the wreckage of the aircraft, testifies that it was "produced in Moscow in 1986".
At the same time, the head of the group, the chief prosecutor of the Netherlands, Fred Westerbeke, noted that he could not answer the question of who was responsible for the atrocity. But, as he stressed, the investigation "continues unswervingly."
Per last years According to the head of the supervisory agency, “a lot of evidence and confirmation has been received, but we are still not ready” to bring charges.
Incomprehensible voices
Previously, the investigation team released documentary about these events, proving that the Buk was transported to Donbass from Russia by militias.
In addition, the JIT referred to records of some telephone conversations. On the tape, someone says that a Buk is needed to counter enemy aircraft. Neither then nor later group She did not explain whose voice it was, how the authenticity of the film was confirmed, and how it proves the fact of transporting the "Buk" across the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The JIT findings are the same as the so-called independent research group Bellingcat. In June 2017, Bellingcat officials said they had identified the Buk, which shot down the Malaysian Airlines plane, from photographs in open sources.
Removed from service
In the Netherlands, as yet another proof of the "Russian trace", they demonstrated the striking elements of rockets in the form of an I-beam (butterfly). They were found at the scene of the tragedy after some time. They really equip the warheads of missiles in service. Russian army... However, no traces of I-beams were found on the fuselage of the downed Boeing, as noted by the Russian side.
The Russian concern Almaz-Antey suggested that the anti-aircraft missile system fired a Ukrainian 9M38 missile. Her warhead is equipped with striking elements in the form of cubes. The missiles of this modification were produced until 1986, and in 2011 they were removed from service in the Russian air defense.
Misunderstood or ignored
Later, Almaz-Antey noted that the JIT simply ignored or misinterpreted some of the information provided by Russia. Although specifically for this investigation was declassified technical documentation for missiles 9M38 and 9M38M1, which are used by various modifications of the "Buk".
In October 2015, the Almaz-Antey presented the results of an experiment - a test detonation of a missile warhead near the fuselage of a decommissioned aircraft. The results did not confirm the conclusions of the JIT experts that the launch was made from the vicinity of the city of Snezhnoye, and that the 9М38М1 rocket, which was in service with the Russian armed forces, was used.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption According to Dutch investigators, a Buk missile exploded to the left of the Boeing's cockpit
More than two years have passed since the crash of the Malaysian Boeing in the skies over Ukraine. During this time, the Russian media have repeatedly questioned the results of an official investigation into the causes of the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 298 people. The BBC monitoring service tracked how the versions of the disaster in the interpretation of the pro-Kremlin media changed.
Spanish dispatcher
July 17, 2014 at 19:00 Moscow time news channel LifeNews reported about "a new victory of the Donetsk militias" who allegedly managed to knock out another An-26 transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. This time - near the town of Torez.
“It all happened at about five o'clock in the evening Moscow time. An-26 flew over the city, suddenly a rocket crashed into it, there was an explosion, the plane began to fall,” the presenter noted, commenting on an amateur video from the scene. The news was immediately picked up by many news sites and the Russia 24 TV channel.
However, less than an hour later it turned out that the footage shown on the air of Russian TV channels was not An-26 at all, but a Malaysian Boeing flying to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.
In the first hours after the confirmation of the information about the downed passenger liner in the skies over Ukraine, the Russian media rejected the possibility of Donetsk separatists' involvement in the catastrophe.
"Experts assure that it is impossible to shoot down the liner with the means that are at the disposal of the rebels," - said the correspondent of the "Vremya" program on Channel One.
"The plane crashed in the area settlement Grabovo, which is not far from the village of Snezhnoe, which was bombed the day before yesterday, was heavily bombed by the Ukrainian Air Force, "said the journalist of the Rossiya TV channel.
In parallel with this, alternative theories, including conspiracy theories, began to actively spread in the media. Late in the evening on July 17, the Russian-language website of the RT channel published a tweet from a "Spanish dispatcher" in Kiev that a few minutes before the Boeing crash, Ukrainian military aircraft were seen near it.
The message was soon picked up by the Russia-24 TV channel, as well as a number of Internet publications. Soon, the “dispatcher's” Twitter account was declared fake and blocked.
Image copyright AFP Image caption In the Russian media, a version even appeared that the target was not the Malaysian Boeing, but an airplane the Russian presidentPutin's plane
Another version that received wide distribution in the Russian media on the evening of the same day, there was a theory that the probable target of those who shot down the Boeing was probably board number one of the president of Russia, returning from a Latin American tour.
"The contours of the planes are generally similar, the linear dimensions are also very similar, and as for the coloring, at a fairly distant distance, it is almost identical," - quoted a source in the Federal Air Transport Agency Interfax.
The next day, as the headlines of the world press were full of accusations against the Kremlin, Russian state television channels continued to blame Ukraine for what happened.
"Formally, the Malaysian airliner was shot down in a peaceful sky. Despite the fact that the Ukrainian authorities declared the area over the southeast to be no-fly on July 8, transit trains continued to operate," the Vesti correspondent noted.
At the same time, a new conspiracy theory appeared on the Internet: the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported, citing eyewitnesses and one of the then separatist leaders Igor Strelkov, that perhaps some of the Boeing passengers were dead even before the fall.
Nevertheless, a few days later, this version, as well as rumors about an attempt to shoot down "plane number one", faded into the background, giving way to the official statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Disappearing "Beech"
On July 20, US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking on CNN, accused Russia of supplying large consignments of weapons to separatists in eastern Ukraine.
On July 21, Russian state television channels announced that, according to the Russian military, a group of Ukrainian Buk anti-aircraft complexes appeared on the eve of the tragedy in Donetsk region and disappeared soon after.
“In addition, at the time of the crash, there was another object on the same echelon with the airliner - the Ukrainian Su-25,” the Vesti presenter noted, referring to the data of the Ministry of Defense.
At the end of May 2015, Bellingcat, an international independent group, stated that the images of the Ukrainian Buk complex, which allegedly recorded its movement on July 14 and 17, 2014, were fake.
On July 25, 2014, the version about the Ukrainian "Buk" sounded again from TV screens. This time, the NTV channel, referring to the expert's opinion, said that the Boeing-777 could have been shot down during the exercises of the Ukrainian air defense forces.
On September 9, Dutch security services released a preliminary report on the causes of the crash of flight MH17. Its main conclusion is that the Boeing fell apart in the air as a result of external influences.
On the same day the correspondent of the TV channel "Russia" criticized the opinion of experts, reminding again that the Ukrainian military allegedly had "Buki" at its disposal. "This photo shows a missile system with a rotated launcher. On July 17, it suddenly disappeared somewhere," he said.
“Experts are confident that the experts missed the time when a full-fledged and objective investigation could be carried out. The Ukrainian side seemed to deliberately did everything possible to the real reason it was no longer possible to find out the disaster, "the correspondent concluded.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Russian authorities have consistently denied that the Malaysian Boeing could have been shot down by the Russian BukSensational shot
Nevertheless, in November of the same year, the version about the Ukrainian "Buk" was unexpectedly replaced by a new one - about an "air-to-air" missile.
The host of the program "However," Mikhail Leontyev said that "at the disposal of Channel One was a sensational picture, presumably taken by a foreign spy satellite in the last seconds of the flight of the Malaysian Boeing over Ukraine." In the photo, the presenter noted, "the launch of a rocket from under the left wing of the" MiG-29 fighter "is clearly visible right into the cockpit."
“In short, there was most likely no Buk,” he concluded.
The release of the program "However" went on the air on Channel One on November 14 - a few days before the G20 summit in Australia. According to Leontiev himself, "on the eve of the most important meeting world leaders ... the topic of the investigation into the death of passengers on that flight is more than relevant, "and the sensational frame" speaks in favor of the version that was almost never heard in the West. "
In the evening of the same day, a similar story with "photographic evidence" of the destruction of the plane by a fighter appeared on the air of the Rossiya TV channel. On the same day, the popular Russian photoblogger Ilya Varlamov discovered signs of falsification of satellite frames.
Secret witness
After the loud exposure of the fake photo, the version of the fighter began to be actively discussed again in the Russian media at the end of 2014.
This time the reason was the publication in the newspaper " TVNZ"dated December 22. As reported by the newspaper, the journalists" found a witness who claims that the Malaysian Boeing was shot down by a Ukrainian Su-25 attack aircraft.
"In the Malaysian Boeing case, a secret witness has appeared, whose testimony clears all charges against the militia and Russia," the authors of the article concluded. Soon this story was picked up by network publications, large TV channels and even the Investigative Committee of Russia. However, the story did not end there.
In early June 2015, the "secret witness" reappeared in the headlines of the state media. "The investigation into the Boeing crash in Donetsk region is making significant progress. And today in The Investigative Committee Russia was named the name of the main witness, "Channel One said on June 3. According to journalists, he turned out to be a former Ukrainian serviceman Yevgeny Agapov.
In parallel, the Russian media reported on the results of an investigation carried out by the developer of the Buk anti-aircraft systems, the Almaz-Antey concern. According to the company's experts, the Malaysian Boeing was shot down over Donbas by a 9M38M1 missile fired from a Buk-M1 complex. At the same time, representatives of the concern at a press conference did not rule out that the missile could be fired by the Ukrainian air defense.
In response, Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins said that Almaz-Antey "used incorrect and edited images in his report on the crash of Flight MH17.
Special operation
According to this version, on July 17, 2014, a bomb exploded on board the Boeing. “I’m almost sure that the plane was destroyed from the inside, and it was a special operation,” an expert from the federal information center"Analytics and Security" Sergei Sokolov.
Obsolete "Buk"
On October 13, the Dutch Security Council issued a final report on its investigation into the causes of the crash, which stated that the airliner had been shot down by a missile launched from a Russian-made Buk.
Four years after the Malaysian Airlines Boeing MH17 crashed in Donetsk region on July 17, 2014, investigators for the first time released information about the specific origin of the missile that shot down the plane.
Rocket launcher The Buk from which the plane was shot down belonged to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based near Kursk. This was at a press conference in the Dutch Utrecht on Thursday, May 24, said representatives of the Joint Investigation Group (JIT) investigating the crash.
New details of the investigation
As the head of the Dutch police investigation department Wilbert Paulissen said at a press conference, the JIT carefully studied all the available photos and videos of the Buk anti-aircraft missile system, from which, according to the investigation, a missile was launched that hit the Malaysian Boeing. “We were able to establish that this air defense system has unique characteristics, - said Paulissen. - Based on these characteristics, the JIT was able to identify the distinguishing features of this Buk.
After analyzing numerous photographs and videos posted on social networks, the investigators recreated the Buk's route from June 23 to June 25, 2014, as part of a convoy of military equipment from a military unit near Kursk to the city of Millerovo in the Rostov Region. According to the JIT, the convoy left the territory of the military unit on June 23, 2014. "It was a large column of nearly 50 different Vehicle, including six "Buk", - said in a presentation that the JIT presented at a press conference.
Some of the videos "clearly show that huge vehicles impede traffic on the road and attract attention," the presentation says.
How the JIT found the Buk from which the Boeing was shot down
The photographs and videos analyzed by investigators show license plates and other distinctive features of military equipment in the convoy, including transport markings on the body. One of the "Buks", following in the convoy, also appeared in the photographs taken on July 17 and 18, already on the territory of Ukraine. Investigators identified him by a set of unique distinctive features, constituting the transport marking of the air defense system.
Comparing these characteristics with those of other Buks of the same type in service with the Russian and Ukrainian armies, the investigators "came to the conclusion that the Buk air defense missile system from which the Boeing MH17 was shot down belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, stationed near Kursk, "Paulissen explained. He also said that in 2014 the 53rd Brigade consisted of three active battalions. Several hundred people served in them, including personnel and auxiliary units.
What is known about the 53rd brigade
While this is the first official statement by investigators about the origin of the missile that shot down MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the data itself is not new. Back in November 2014, the Bellingcat expert journalist group published the results of its own investigation, according to which the Boeing MH17 was shot down from a Buk that was in service with the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade near Kursk.
Bellingcat experts later published another report detailing the 53rd Brigade. According to them, in 2014, each of its three battalions included a full Buk complex. The convoy, spotted on June 23-25, carried Buk missile launchers, another military equipment as well as soldiers and officers of the second battalion. The convoy was heading for the Millerovo military airfield. Subsequently, the equipment moving in the convoy was transported to countryside to the border with Ukraine.
Context
Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins explained in an interview with DW that it took JIT investigators longer to identify the origin of the Beech that shot down MH17. This is because, Higgins said, they must scrutinize the information they collect, especially given that Russia does not accept any evidence. "Investigators must be 100 percent sure that everything they represent is completely correct, because if you make a mistake - and Russian authorities start to put pressure on them, "Higgins is sure.
JIT and Bellingcat's findings coincide
Commenting on the results of the investigation released on Thursday, Higgins noted that the 53rd Battalion's involvement in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing is quite obvious. When comparing Buk and JIT, Bellingcat experts paid attention to the same signs - such as damage to the hull, traces of paint, the location of numbers and markings. “It is highly unlikely that in that area there was another identical air defense system with the same distinctive features,” summed up the Bellingcat founder.
JIT officials, meanwhile, acknowledged Bellingcat's previous findings and explained why it took them so long to release the information about the 53rd Brigade Buk. “The JIT’s findings should be based on legally compelling evidence that can be presented in court. a lot of time to collect and verify these facts, "Paulissen emphasized.
JIT called on the public to help in the investigation
The JIT representatives also noted that the investigation into the disaster had entered the "final phase" and asked the public to provide information known to it about the 53rd brigade, the deployment of "Buk", which shot down Malaysian Boeing, and persons who were directly or indirectly involved in the plane crash.
“We are convinced that many people know this information, it could be members of the 53rd Brigade, their friends and relatives,” Paulissen said, promising that all information about the informants would remain confidential.
According to Higgins, even one witness can play important role during the investigation. "I think the JIT group does this not out of desperation, but because they want to achieve as much as possible. better results... After all, it gravitates with Russia, and Russia will try any possible tactics to go on the attack, "he suggested.
See also:
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MH17 was shot down by a Russian Buk
The investigation revealed that the Boeing was shot down by a 9M38 missile used in the Buk anti-aircraft missile system. The installation was delivered from Russia and launched from the territory then controlled by the separatists. Fragments of a Buk missile were found both during the autopsy of the bodies of the crew members and in one of the window openings of the aircraft cockpit.
What we learned about the MH17 disaster
Buka route
The international investigation team was able to establish most the route along which the Buk air defense missile system followed to the territory of Ukraine, as well as the route of its movement in the opposite direction. According to the investigation, the complex was moved from the territory of Russia to the territory of Eastern Ukraine and later taken back to the Russian Federation on a white Volvo tractor.
What we learned about the MH17 disaster
Rocket Launch Site
The final destination of the Buk air defense missile system was the fields near the village of Pervomaisky. This information is corroborated by the testimony of numerous witnesses who saw the plume of smoke, the Buk missile launcher near the village, as well as the missile itself after it was launched. After the missile was launched, the Buk left this place on its own. After some time, he was again loaded onto a tractor and taken to the Russian border.
What we learned about the MH17 disaster
Alternative versions
The investigation ruled out versions of an emergency situation and a terrorist attack on board the aircraft. The version that the airliner was shot down in the air by a military plane was also found to be untenable. Based on the radar data, it was established that at the time of the disaster aircraft capable of shooting down flight MH17 were not nearby.
What we learned about the MH17 disaster
Guilty persons
On this moment An international investigation team has identified about 100 people involved in the disaster. Two of the suspects are mentioned on the website of the Dutch police as "defendant 1, pseudonym: Orion (call sign), name: Andrey Ivanovich" and "person involved 2, pseudonym: Dolphin (call sign), name: Nikolai Fedorovich". Their names are still unknown to the investigation.
What we learned about the MH17 disaster
The investigation is looking for witnesses
Fragments of records are published on the site telephone conversations Dolphin and Oreon. “Well, does Moscow confirm the convoy that is coming? column uh-uh these ... dill? "- asks one of the defendants. The investigation asks for help to everyone who has information about these people.
What we learned about the MH17 disaster
Bellingcat investigation
The findings of the MSG virtually coincide with the findings of an investigation by Bellingcat, an expert journalist organization that independently investigates open sources... On July 15, Bellingcat issued a report also claiming that the Boeing's death was caused by a Buk missile delivered to Ukraine from Russia.
What we learned about the MH17 disaster
Russian version
In October 2015, the manufacturer of the Buk complex, the Russian concern Almaz-Antey, published the results of its own investigation of the disaster. According to the concern, the Boeing was shot down from the area near the villages of Zaroshchenskoye and Velikaya Shishovka, which are under the control of the armed forces of Ukraine. Bellingcat experts, in turn, argue that there were no Ukrainian Buk missiles at these locations.
Australian Foreign Minister Julia Bishop said that it is too early to talk about the conclusions of the investigation into the crash of the Malaysian Boeing MH17, shot down in the skies over the Donbas in 2014. So she commented on the statement of her New Zealand colleague Winston Peters, who doubted that Russia was responsible for the tragedy. International investigators claim that the plane was shot down by a Buk air defense missile system from an area controlled by the DPR. The data of the Russian radar station indicate that the launch was made from the territory where the air defense systems of Ukraine were located. According to experts, in the West they began to understand that the case was being conducted unprofessionally and deliberately being delayed. Why politicians started talking about the non-involvement of the Russian Federation in the catastrophe over Donbass, RT found out.
- Crash site of the Malaysian Boeing MH17
- Reuters
"Contradicts the interests of the country"
Australian Foreign Minister Julia Bishop said that it is not worth talking about any conclusions on the investigation by the international Joint Investigation Group (JIT) of the crash of the Malaysian Boeing MH17 over Donbas on July 17, 2014. Of the 298 killed, 38 were Australian citizens.
“The investigation is ongoing and when it is completed, the results will be passed on to prosecutors for legal action, which Australia also strongly supports,” said the Australian Foreign Minister. "It is impossible to form an opinion on the evidence, since it has not yet been made public."
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Previously, Bishop made much more confident statements on this score. So, in October 2016, she argued that it was necessary to find those responsible for the destruction of the aircraft "in the Russian military command."
"Recently, Australia's policy has changed, it has become less confrontational with respect to Russia," Mikhail Alexandrov, an expert at the Center for Military-Political Research at MGIMO, said in an interview with RT.
The political scientist attributes this change to losses from anti-Russian sanctions and the departure in 2015 from the post of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who made anti-Russian statements.
Bishop's new statement came after her New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters said in an interview with local newspaper Newshub that there was no evidence of Russia's involvement in the destruction of a civilian plane.
“You say that the person who launched the rocket did so at the direction of Russia. The big problem is that your argument from a legal point of view immediately sags, because you have no proof of this, ”said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand.
Speaking about the proposal to resume negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone with Russia that were interrupted in 2014, Peters stressed that his country could not waste time waiting for the outcome of the investigation.
“If, according to the results, it turns out that these insinuations have no factual confirmation, then we will simply waste time, and this does not meet the interests of our country,” the minister said.
- New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters
- Reuters
“There really is no evidence,” Aleksandrov notes. - And the involvement of the Donbass militias has not been proven either. Much indicates that it was the Kiev regime that shot down the plane. Both New Zealanders and Australians understand this. But the New Zealanders are more free in their statements, and the Australians are nevertheless tied to the United States by the ANZUS military treaty (New Zealand and the United States broke the military cooperation agreement back in 1987. - RT), so they are more careful. "
Illegal investigation
The criminal investigation into the crash of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing MH17 has been going on for four years - since the establishment of the Joint Investigation Team on August 4, 2014, which included representatives of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine. On October 13, 2015, the Dutch Security Council published the results, in which it stated that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, which is part of the Buk, Buk-M1 and Buk-M1-2 air defense missile systems. In October 2016, the JIT stated that the rocket was launched from the area of the villages of Pervomayskoye and Snezhnoye, which was controlled by the DPR militias.
Also on the topic
"An attempt to politicize the investigation": how Russia reacted to the signing of the memorandum on the crash of MH17Five countries participating in the investigation of the crash of flight MH17 in the skies over the Donbas signed a memorandum of political support for the ...
As the expert of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Vitaly Bordunov noted in an interview with RT, the SSG is, in principle, an illegitimate institution from the point of view of international law.
“If these were decent, normal people who really respect international law, they would have done the right thing. Ukraine should have organized an appropriate investigation together with Malaysia, which was not done, ”the expert notes.
According to Bordunov, the Boeing MH17 crash over Donbas falls under Article 26 and Appendix 13 of the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. According to the document, Ukraine, as the country where the tragedy occurred, had to conclude an investigation agreement with Malaysia, which owned the aircraft, and not with the Netherlands, and register it according to ICAO rules. The agreement was also to be tested for compliance with the principles of the Chicago Convention. This procedure implies ICAO oversight of the investigation. None of the above was done.
“This international commission was created outside the framework of international law, it is headed by a local police officer in a small Dutch town, where there are no specialists, nothing,” the expert emphasizes. - All this is typical of the current situation in the world: if anything, Russia is to blame. It doesn't matter that there is no evidence. "
- Reconstruction of the MH17 in Gilse Reyen, the Netherlands, 13 October 2015
- Reuters
According to the expert, "ICAO is on the sidelines," and the investigation itself looks more like a conspiracy to accuse Russia.
In October 2016, Moscow passed on primary radar data to investigators, which cast doubt on the findings of the Joint Investigation Team on the launch of the missile that shot down MH17.
“As the RF Ministry of Defense and representatives of the concern have already stated, when a rocket is launched from Pervomayskoye, this would have to be reflected on the radar data. And this is not reflected on the radar, ”said Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry in November 2016.
However, the investigation has not yet responded to this information.
“As experts note, all this is simply registered, everything can be seen in this scenario, but they did not pay attention to our data, as if they didn’t exist,” Bordunov said.
Bias factor
On March 12, 2018, the Dutch investigative journalism program Zembla announced the names of the main suspects in the destruction of the plane.
it former minister Defense of the DPR Igor Strelkov, his subordinate Sergei Dubinsky and Colonel General of the Russian Armed Forces, retired Nikolai Tkachev. Allegedly, these names were reported to the investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine. Earlier, journalists, including Australian ones, have repeatedly made similar "sensational" revelations, however, according to Bordunov, "this is a lime tree, from a legal point of view, this evidence cannot be taken seriously."
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly noted the special attitude of the Joint Investigation Group towards Ukraine. In particular, the lack of a negative reaction to the fact that Kiev is hiding part of the information: it refuses to provide data on the negotiations of military dispatchers and the location of the Ukrainian air defense systems of the Buk family. At the same time, Russia, unlike Ukraine, does not have the status of a full-fledged member of the JIT. In addition, the JIT uses as evidence Bellingcat's "investigation" based on data from social media.
“In legal language, this is called bias, unwillingness to figure out who did what,” says the ICAO expert. “And if so, how long this investigation will last, I don’t know, there are games going on here.”
On February 22, 2018, the Dutch Ministry of Justice announced the extension of the investigation until 2019, although earlier it was going to publish the results at the beginning of 2018. The department announced this in a report to parliament. According to the Dutch Ministry of Justice, until now, four years after the disaster,. Nevertheless, despite the incompleteness of the investigation, The Hague "is preparing for the start of the trial." And although the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands claims that it has familiarized itself with the report of Russian specialists, the conclusions drawn from it have not been announced.
“There is no clarity on this issue,” Bordunov said. "There is only one conversation that Russia is to blame for everything."
In October 2017, the Dutch Supreme Court allowed the government not to publish the results of the Joint Investigation Team's investigation.
“They cannot tell the truth,” says Mikhail Alexandrov. - If you confirm the non-involvement of Russia and the Donbass militias, then you have to blame Ukraine. And this will be a politically strong blow to Kiev. "
According to the expert, as soon as the investigation recognizes that Ukraine shot down the plane, this will call into question its relationship with Europe, which neither the United States, nor NATO, nor the EU will agree to.
“They cannot lie openly, they cannot admit the truth, so they are delaying,” Aleksandrov summed up.
