. 24/7 Space News .
SUPERPOWERS
MH17 probe 'biased', Moscow 'disappointed': foreign ministry
by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) Sept 28, 2016


Malaysia PM vows justice after MH17 probe
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Sept 28, 2016 - Malaysia on Wednesday promised "firm action" against those behind the downing of Flight MH17 in Ukraine, after a Dutch-led enquiry found the plane was hit by a missile transported from Russia.

The international criminal enquiry presented its findings into the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in conflict-torn eastern Ukraine in July 2014, which killed all 298 people on board.

"The Joint Investigation Team has concluded that MH17 was downed by a Russian-made missile and it was fired from rebel controlled territory," national news agency Bernama reported Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying.

"Based on the two findings, Malaysia wants firm action to be taken. We have promised that those who were responsible for the downing of the aircraft will be brought to justice," he told Malaysian media during a trip to Germany.

"We owe it to the families. The families want justice. So we will pursue this," he said.

Malaysia will call for a meeting with representatives from other countries which lost citizens in the crash, notably the Netherlands and Australia, he said.

The report did not assign blame but said the Boeing 777 was shot down by a BUK missile system from an area in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, and that the system was brought in from Russia and then taken back there.

The dead included 44 Malaysians, along with 192 Dutch nationals and 27 Australians.

Moscow on Wednesday described as "biased" and "politically motivated" the Dutch-led inquiry into the downing of Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, which concluded the plane was shot down by a missile transported from Russia.

"Russia is disappointed that the situation around the investigation of the Boeing catastrophe is not changing," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

"The conclusions of Dutch prosecutors confirm that the investigation is biased and politically motivated," she said.

She accused the Joint Investigative Taskforce of "arbitrarily designating a guilty party and inventing the desired results."

The taskforce presented its findings on Wednesday after a two-year investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in conflict-torn eastern Ukraine, which killed all 298 people on board in July 2014.

The conclusion did not assign blame but said the Boeing 777 was shot down by a BUK missile system from an area in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, and that the system was brought in from Russia and then taken back there.

The ministry statement said the taskforce "excluded Moscow from fully participating in the investigation process" while embracing Ukraine as a "full member of the JIT" and giving Kiev an opportunity to "falsify evidence and twist the case in its favour".

"Russia is practically the only (party) that sends true information and discloses more and more new data," the statement said.

Yet the "whole 'body of evidence' of the Dutch prosecutors was provided by Ukraine," it said.

The taskforce said Wednesday that Moscow had only provided part of the information that it had requested.

Russia's defence ministry on Monday released what it claimed were new radar images showing that there was no missile fired from rebel-held territory on that day, which contradicted some of its earlier declarations.

Russia's Almaz-Antey missile maker, which produces BUK surface-to-air systems, said in a briefing Wednesday that the inquiry did not include its findings.

The state-controlled firm last October alleged the plane was downed from disputed territory by an outdated version of the BUK missile that is no longer in use by the Russian military.

Dutch prosecutors said they only received Almaz-Antey's data this month and did not find that it outweighed the probe's conclusions.

Points from the MH17 investigation
Nieuwegein, Netherlands (AFP) Sept 28, 2016 - An international criminal inquiry into the 2014 downing of Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine revealed Wednesday that a BUK missile which brought down the plane was transported from Russia.

Here are the main findings of the inquiry carried out by the Joint Investigation team (JIT), led by Dutch prosecutors with teams from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

- The weapon -

The JIT said it has "irrefutable evidence to establish that on 17 July 2014, Flight MH17 was shot down by a BUK missile from the 9M38-series." Some 298 people were killed when the Malaysia Airlines plane on a routine flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the skies over eastern Ukraine.

It made this determination by dismantling various types of BUK, a Russian-made ground-based air defence system, and comparing them to metal parts recovered from the crash site.

Investigators also ruled out alternative scenarios that the disaster was caused by an accident or a terror attack. And according to radar data, no other planes were in the area which could have shot it down.

- Where did the missile come from? -

Using photos, videos and intercepted phone conversations, the investigators retraced the missile system's route which they say originated in Russia.

"The system was transported from Russian territory into eastern Ukraine and was later transported on a white Volvo truck with a low-boy trailer. The truck was escorted by several other vehicles and by armed men in uniform," the inquiry concludes.

An intercepted telephone conversation said to be between two Russian-speaking men fighting on the side of the separatists suggests the launcher crossed the border on the night between July 16 and 17.

The wiretapped conversation intercepted on Wednesday, July 16, 2104 at 7:09 pm records one man, identified as Nikolayevich, saying he doesn't know if "his men can hold" and asking if he can "receive a BUK in the morning... that'd be good. If not things will go totally fucked up".

"If you need ... we'll send it over to your area," the other man, called Sanych, replies.

- The launch site -

The final destination of the BUK-TELAR launch system was farmland near Pervomaiskyi. Investigators said that at the time the field was in rebel-held territory.

Witnesses told the investigators they had seen "a plume of smoke, the BUK-TELAR at the launch site in Pervomaiskyi, and the missile right after it had been launched."

Multiple witnesses had also photographed the condensation trail of the missile and its movement.

"After the BUK missile had been fired, the BUK-TELAR initially drove off under its own power. A short time later it was reloaded onto the Volvo truck and transported back to the Russian border. During the night, the convoy crossed the border into the territory of the Russian Federation," the inquiry says.

- The perpetrators -

Investigators did not name any suspects, but revealed they have identified about 100 people "who can be linked to the downing of MH17 or the transport of the BUK-TELAR."

It is also probing the chain of command, and has extended the investigation to January 2018.

"Who gave the order to bring the BUK-TELAR into Ukraine and who gave the order to shoot down flight MH17? Did the crew decide for themselves or did they execute a command from their superiors? This is important when determining the offences committed by the alleged perpetrators," the inquiry states in its report.

The JIT team has put a number of intercepted phone conversations on its website www.jitmh17.com and is asking people who recognise the voices to come forward with information.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
SUPERPOWERS
Britain sends jets to intercept Russian bombers
London (AFP) Sept 22, 2016
Britain scrambled fighter jets from an airbase in Scotland to intercept two Russian bombers approaching UK airspace, the Ministry of Defence said Thursday. The Russian planes flew from the direction of Norway and passed to the west of Britain's Shetland Islands, northeast of the mainland. A Royal Air Force spokeswoman said: "Quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth inte ... read more


SUPERPOWERS
Exploration Team Shoots for the Moon with Water-Propelled Satellite

Space tourists eye $150mln Soyuz lunar flyby

Roscosmos to spend $7.5Mln studying issues of manned lunar missions

Lockheed Martin, NASA Ink Deal for SkyFire Infrared Lunar Discovery Satellite

SUPERPOWERS
Elon Musk envisions 'fun' trips to Mars colony

Pacamor Kubar Bearings awarded contract to support Mars 2020 Mission

Rover Makes Its Way to 'Spirit Mound,'

A Mixed-reality Trip to Mars

SUPERPOWERS
Space Traffic Management May Soon be Here

California dreamin' for Chinese investors in US

Software star Google expected to flex hardware muscle

Yoyager's Golden Record not just for aliens anymore

SUPERPOWERS
Batch production of Long March 5 underway

Chinese Space Lab Tiangong-2 Ready to Dock With Manned Spacecraft

Scientific experiment apparatuses on Tiangong-2 put into operation

China space plane taking shape

SUPERPOWERS
NASA, JAXA Focus on Maximizing Scientific Output From Space Station

Manned launch of Soyuz MS-02 maybe postponed to Nov 1

Russia cancels manned space launch over 'technical' issues

US astronauts complete spacewalk for ISS maintenance

SUPERPOWERS
Launch of Atlas V Rocket With WorldView-4 Satellite Postponed Till October

Rocket agreement marks countdown to New Zealand's first space launch

Parallel launch preparations put Ariane 5 on track for next launch

Vega orbits "eyes in the skies" on its latest success

SUPERPOWERS
New Low-Mass Objects Could Help Refine Planetary Evolution

Pluto's heart sheds light on a possible buried ocean

Hubble Finds Planet Orbiting Pair of Stars

Stellar activity can mimic misaligned exoplanets

SUPERPOWERS
Raytheon to begin production planning for AN/TPY-2 radars

Digital photography: The future of small-scale manufacturing

Indonesian scavengers scrape a living by recycling

Levitating nanoparticle improves torque sensing in quest for quantum theory fundamentals









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.