HOW ‘THE DOZENʼ GIVE HOPE FOR CLOSURE TO MH17 FAMILIES
KUCHING: Colonel Mohd Sakri Hussin has endured many harrowing experiences in his military career, but his mission to Ukraine shortly after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 remains the most challenging.
Sakri was the chief negotiator of “The Dozen”, a Malaysian team tasked with entering Ukraine to secure not just the bodies of the victims, but also the downed aircraft’s black box, mere days after the tragedy took place on July 17, 2014.
Now a National Disaster Management operations department agency senior deputy director, Sakri said the episode was fresh in his mind even though it happened four years ago.
“Even though our lives were on the line, we were given the trust to complete the mission for the country’s sake. That remained foremost in my thoughts as well as the other 11 team members.
“We had no firearms, we went in empty (handed). All we had was some money (to rent a car), food and medication to pull off the operation.
“Our main objective was to secure the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, and ensure that the bodies of the passengers and flight crew members were safely escorted out of ground zero,” he told the New Straits Times Press.
“The Dozen” stunned the international community when they completed the negotiation process in 24 hours, just three days after the aircraft was shot down.
The negotiations were successfully concluded without any conditions attached by separatist leader Alexander Borodai, who declared himself the prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic.