Investigators: 'A Russian Missile' shot down Malaysian Airlines' MH17 flight

The missile fired by the 53rd Anti-aircraft missile Brigade, based in Kursk in Russia. All 298 passengers and crew members, many of them from the Netherlands, lost their lives in the air disaster. The Russian government has repeatedly denied any involvement. Those responsible will be tried in the Netherlands.


Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) – Investigations into the shooting down of the MH17 flight in 2014,  have found that the missile that hit the plane over the east of Ukraine was fired by a Russian military brigade.

The Dutchman Wilbert Paulissen (photo), head of the Joint Investigation Team, said yesterday that "the Buk-Telar that brought down the MH17 came from the 53rd anti-aircraft missile Brigade, based in Kursk in Russia.

The Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down in the skies over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, during the journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 passengers and crew members, many of them from the Netherlands, lost their lives in the air disaster. In all, travellers of 17 nationalities were on board, including Australians, Britons, Malaysians and Indonesians.

Investigators had previously concluded that the plane had been hit by a Buk missile system, produced and coming from Russia. It was fired from the Ukrainian territory occupied by rebels supported by Moscow. However, they did not reveal who the launchers were. Now the team has carefully recreated the path taken by the Kursk missile convoy to the border with Ukraine, using videos and photos.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in the shooting down of the Boeing 777, instead blaming Kiev. The investigations conducted by the Netherlands focus on around 100 people suspected of having played an "active role" in the incident, but investigators have not yet named any suspects. They identified two main suspects, referred to with the aliases Orion and Delfin, thanks to some telecomunication interceptions. Dutch officials have announced that those responsible will be tried in the Netherlands, on the basis of an agreement reached with the countries that conducted the joint investigation.