New facts obtained by
Russian experts through an additional study confirm that some conclusions of
the Dutch final report on the MH17 crash in Ukraine were unsubstantiated and
inaccurate, Russia's civil aviation regulator Rosaviatsia says.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to a letter sent by Oleg Storchevoy, deputy head of Rosaviatsia, to Dutch Safety Board Chairman Tjibbe Joustra, the Russian experts “continued their research based on the additional data specified in the final report and as a result obtained some new important facts that had been not examined in the course of the investigation."
The new facts of the Dutch report called
into question include the presence of heavy air defense systems
in eastern Ukraine that were not controlled by Ukrainian government
forces, the fact that the aircraft was hit by a 9N314M high-explosive
fragmentation warhead, that the warhead that hit the aircraft was carried
by a 9M38-series missile launched by a Buk surface-to-air missile
system, and the position of the missile in relation to the
aircraft at the moment of detonation, as well as the area
it was launched from.
The final report by the Dutch Safety Board
on the MH17 crash in Ukraine ignores the fact that Kiev deliberately
concealed or distorted information on real threats to the safety
of civil flights arising from the military activities
of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, Rosaviatsia said.
“The conclusion made in the report…that Ukraine,
having sovereign control of its airspace, was responsible
for ensuring the safety of flights…appears to be incomplete and
does not reflect the objective fact that Ukraine ignored safety risks
for civil aircraft after unleashing hostilities in the east
of the country.”
The full text of the letter has been posted
on Rosaviatsia's official website.
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crashed over the
Donetsk region in southeastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all
298 people on board. The Kiev government forces and local independence
supporters were fighting in the area at the time, and traded blame
for the incident.
The DSB final report into the crash, released
in mid-October, said a surface-to-air missile exploded near the
passenger aircraft’s left side.
Storchevoy said later that month that he Dutch-led
investigation team refused to allow Russia access to the Buk missile
fragments allegedly found at the MH17 crash site or disclose their serial
numbers, while some photographs that have emerged of the missile fragments
raise further doubts.
Almaz-Antey, the Russian arms manufacturer that builds
Buk missile systems, conducted a separate probe into the crash. It found that the missile that hit the plane could only have been
launched by a Buk system located in the region of Zaroshchenske,
controlled by Kiev forces at the time of the incident.
Source: Sputnik News 14-01-2016
