MH17 team identifies Russian missile parts
Print Edition
INVESTIGATORS probing the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine said yesterday that they had identified pieces of debris as “possibly” coming from a Russian-made BUK missile.
International and Dutch investigators are examining “several parts, possibly originating from a BUK surface-air-missile system,” said a joint statement from prosecutors and the Dutch Safety Board (OVV).
“These parts have been secured during a previous recovery mission in eastern Ukraine and are in possession of the criminal investigation team and the Dutch Safety Board,” it said.
Asked whether the parts were found at the crash site, Dutch public prosecutor spokesman Wim de Bruin told AFP he could not be more specific than “in eastern Ukraine.”
Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17 last year, killing all 298 people on board during heavy fighting between Kiev’s armed forces and pro-Russian rebels.
Ukraine and many in the West have accused pro-Russian rebels of shooting down the plane, saying that they may have used a BUK missile supplied by Russia.
Russia and the rebels deny any responsibility and instead point the finger at Ukraine’s military.
Members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), comprising representatives from the Netherlands, Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia, Britain, the United States and Russia, are currently meeting in The Hague to discuss a draft OVV report into what caused the crash.
Yesterday’s announcement represents the first time prosecutors have confirmed possible physical evidence of a missile bringing down the plane.
Though they have previously said a missile strike is the most likely explanation for the crash, they had not revealed that they were in possession of possible missile parts.
The statement from the OVV and the investigating team said that the pieces being investigated “can possibly provide more information” about who was involved in the crash of MH17.
“For that reason the JIT further investigates the origin of these parts. The JIT will internationally enlist the help of experts, among others forensic specialists and weapon-experts,” it said.
Investigators stressed that “at present the conclusion cannot be drawn that there is a connection between the discovered parts and the crash of flight MH17.”
The parts were found during Dutch recovery missions to the crash site. Dutch authorities have conducted several missions to the site to recover human remains, victims’ belongings and parts of the downed Boeing 777.
A report by the Dutch Safety Board into the cause of the crash is expected by the end of October, while the separate international criminal investigation is likely to take months more to complete, according to officials.
The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was blown out of the sky. Two-thirds of the people onboard were Dutch, many of them children starting their summer holidays.
Russia last month vetoed a bid at the United Nations Security Council to set up an international tribunal to try those behind the shooting.
Countries involved in that bid are now looking at other means to carry out a prosecution, although no suspects have yet been identified or detained.
The OVV is to release its final report into what, but not who, downed the aircraft in October.
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