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October 13, 2015

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Last year, on October 13, 2015, the Dutch Safety Board reported that its investigation showed the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014, was caused by a Russian-built Buk missile.

During their press conference at a military base in Gilze-Rijen, the Netherlands, the Dutch investigators did not specify the exact location from which the Buk missile was fired, but identified a 320-kilometer area that was under the control of Russian-led militants in eastern Ukraine.

The report’s findings were based on 15 months of investigations and showed that the missile had detonated less than a meter to the left of the aircraft’s cockpit, killing the pilots instantly and causing the aircraft to break apart. All 298 people aboard the plane died as a result.

Tjibbe Joustra, head of the Dutch Safety Board, said, “As a result of the warhead’s detonation, thousands of small preformed metal objects were ejected with tremendous force. Many of these objects were bow-tie shaped or cubic [and] several hundred of them hit the airplane.” (The report noted that bow-tie shaped shrapnel was signature to Buk systems used by Russia, not Ukraine.)

The United States expressed support of the Dutch Safety Board’s findings, and said it fully supported all efforts to bring to justice those responsible.

The Kremlin, however, criticized the report and investigation as “biased.”

Nick de Larrinaga, the Europe editor for Jane’s Defense Weekly, rejected Russia’s claims of bias and identified the model of surface-to-air missile launcher as a Buk model 9M38M1, the newest version being used by Russia. Other claims made by Russia and its arms producer Almaz-Antey included that a Ukrainian Su-25 had shot down MH17. Mr. de Larrinaga said that these claims “should be discounted as disinformation and propaganda aimed at drawing attention away from the Dutch report.”

The Dutch Safety Board’s report indicated that the missile was launched near the town of Snizhne, in an area under Russia-led militant control.

Speaking from Moscow, Yan Novikov, head of Almaz-Antey, claimed that – based on simulations conducted by the company – the missile, based on an older version of the Buk (9M38, Babyn Yar 75 years after which had been withdrawn from Russian military service) was launched from Ukrainian-controlled territory, near the town of Zaroshchenske.  “The only thing we do not yet understand is why fragments of 9M38M1 are among the evidence,” Mr. Novkiov said.

This year, on September 28, in Nieuwegien, the Netherlands, the Dutch-led investigation’s findings implicated Russia in concealing its role and its protection of individual suspects. The report also highlighted that the Buk system was brought from Russia to Ukraine and then returned to Russia.

Source: “Dutch report: MH17 downed by Russian-built Buk missile,” (RFE/RL), The Ukrainian Weekly, October 18, 2015.

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