Russia blamed for plane blast horror
A RUSSIAN missile blew up Flight MH17 killing all 298 people on board, including 10 Britons, prosecutors confirmed yesterday.
The Malaysia Airlines jet was over Ukraine in July 2014 when the Buk missile was launched from a village held by pro-Russian rebels.
The conclusions are based on thousands of wiretaps, photographs, witness statements and forensic tests.
They find the launcher was transported from Russia and returned while separatists were fighting Ukrainian forces.
Russia flatly dismissed the latest report yesterday.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the investigation was biased and politically motivated.
She said: “To arbitrarily designate a guilty party and dream up the desired results has become the norm for our Western colleagues. The investigation to this day continues to ignore incontestable evidence from the Russian side.”
The attack influenced the West in imposing sanctions on Russia.
The investigative team from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine has identified 100 persons of interest. Fred Westerbeke, of the Netherlands National Prosecutor’s office, said yesterday: “Of a number of them, we know pretty exactly what their role and position was.
“But who exactly was in charge, and whether it was done intentionally, there the investigation is still continuing.” Last year the Dutch Safety Board concluded that MH17 was hit by a Buk fired from eastern Ukraine.
Victims’ families repeated their calls for justice yesterday. Prosecutors cannot file charges because there is no international agreement on where a case could be heard.