commercial airliner shot down by russia

On 24 July 2014 the ICAO issued a State Letter reminding signatory states of their responsibilities with respect to the safety and security of civil aircraft operating in airspace affected by conflict. [319], The International Civil Aviation Organization announced, on 18 July, that it was sending its team of experts to assist the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine (NBAAI), under Article 26 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. [102], On 1 August it was announced that a search and recovery mission, including about 80 forensic police specialists from the Netherlands, Malaysia and Australia, and led by Colonel Cornelis Kuijs of the Royal Marechaussee, would use drones, sniffer dogs, divers and satellite mapping to search for missing body parts at the crash site. [90] Remains left Torez on a train on the evening of 21 July, en route to Kharkiv to be flown to the Netherlands for identification. [338] This is both the largest number of tweets in any 24 hour period, and for any topic in the history of the Internet Research Agency (IRA). First Officer Ahmad had a total of 3,190 flight hours, including 227 in Boeing 777s. [227], On 28 September 2016, the JIT gave a press conference in which it concluded that the aircraft was shot down with a 9M38 Buk missile fired from a rebel-controlled field near Pervomaisky (), a town 6km (3.7mi) south of Snizhne. Earlier efforts by the recovery team to salvage the MH17 wreckage had been frustrated by disagreements with the local rebels. Officials also claimed that video evidence presented by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), in which the missile that allegedly shot down the airliner was shown being moved from Russia into Ukraine, was fabricated. [3]:5455, 152153, Investigators were able to determine how the aircraft disintegrated and crashed. This was quickly dismissed as Putin's flight route was hundreds of kilometres north of Ukraine. [266] The Dutch court, on considering defendant Oleg Pulatov's appeal against anonymous testimony, allowed twelve anonymous witness statements in the trial but barred the anonymous testimony of one witness. [301] On 21 July the Netherlands opened a war crimes investigation on the downing of the aircraft and a Netherlands public prosecutor went to Ukraine as part of this investigation. [265], Shortly after it became evident that it was a civilian aircraft which had been shot down, the separatist media denied any responsibility and denied having anti-aircraft missiles capable of reaching the cruising altitude of commercial traffic. , ", "MH17 Forensic Analysis of Satellite Images Released by the Russian Ministry of Defence", "Forensic report: Russia faked MH17 satellite photos", "BILD entlarvt falsche Satellitenaufnahme", "Russia: Missile that shot down flight MH17 was Ukrainian", "Russia: Missile That Shot Down Flight MH17 Was Ukrainian", "MH17 crash: Dutch ask Russia to submit new claims", "Reaction JIT to press conference of Russian Ministry of Defense", "Rebel leader gives bizarre account of plane crash", "Intelligencer: Russia's 'Conspiracy Theory': MH17 Shot Down by Ukrainian Fighter Jet or Missile", "Russia Presents Its Account of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Crash", "MH17-Absturz kontert Kritik mit neuen Satellitenbildern", "British journalist working for Russian TV resigns over bias in Ukraine MH17 coverage", "Here's The Ridiculous Way Russia's Propaganda Channel Is Covering The Malaysia Airlines Crash", "MH17: Russia reveals 'witness' who blames Ukraine pilot", "Russians Fed Conspiracy Theories on Ukraine Crash", " 17 ? [311] The Danish Institute for International Studies has pointed out to the similarities of Russian reaction to the downing of Korean Airlines flight KAL-007 in 1983 where the USSR initially denied any involvement. [323][324] The opening ceremony of the AIDS 2014 conference, on 20 July, of which several delegates had been on board Flight MH17, began with a tribute to the victims of the crash. [349] Russia claimed that a Ukrainian Air Force deserter had told them that he had overheard Ukrainian pilots discussing having shot down the wrong plane on the day MH17 crashed. [6][309][310] At the end of July, State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev said in an interview for Die Welt that the separatists had shot down the airliner by mistake and that Putin now realised he had supplied the weapon to the "wrong people". [182] The head of the SBU, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, later claimed that rebels had intended to shoot down a Russian airliner in a false flag operation to give Russia a pretext to invade Ukraine, but shot down MH17 by mistake. Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that an image shows a Russian plane shot down by Ukraine. [119][120][121][122][123], Two parallel investigations were led by the Dutch, one into the technical cause of the crash, and a separate criminal inquiry. Among other inconsistencies, both aircraft were massive relative to the terrain below, indicating that it was a crude copy-and-paste job. This treaty was signed on 7 July 2017,[247] and went into force on 28 August 2018. We are very unhappy about this. [88], On 20 July, Ukrainian emergency workers, observed by armed pro-Russian separatists, began loading the remains of the passengers of MH17 into refrigerated railway wagons for transport and identification. [403] It is also a major event in Maryna Er Gorbach's film Klondike. After they had held a video conference with representatives of insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic (who controlled the area where the aircraft crashed), the rebels promised to "provide safe access and security guarantees" to "the national investigation commission" by co-operating with Ukrainian authorities and OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) monitors. 0. Only 3% of respondents blamed the disaster on the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. [268][269] On 21 December 2021, the Prosecution recommended life sentences for four suspects accused of downing the plane. [40][41], On 26 May, a spokesperson of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that a surface-to-air missile system that was being used by the rebels, near Donetsk airport, had been destroyed by a helicopter of the Ukrainian army. They claimed that the missile could not have been fired from Snizhne, but was instead fired from Zaroshchenske and that a Ukrainian anti-air unit was located there at that time. [14] The Netherlands and Australian foreign ministers stated that they would hold Russia legally responsible for shooting the airliner down. [1] During the investigation, the JIT recorded and assessed five billion internet pages, interviewed 200 witnesses, collected half a million photos and videos, and analysed 150,000 intercepted phone calls. JIT was particularly interested in "the command structure and the role that Russian government officials may have played. "[308], Russian President Putin said that Ukraine bore responsibility for the incident which happened in its territory, which he said would not have happened if hostilities had not resumed in the south-east of Ukraine. [100] The day after, another 74 bodies arrived. In another recording, dated the day after the shooting down, a rebel allegedly says the Buk system and its crew had been brought from Russia by "the Librarian". [249][250], On 19 June 2019, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service charged four people with murder in connection with the shooting down of the aircraft: three Russians, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky, and Oleg Pulatov, and one Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko. "[175][176][177] He cited what he said were recorded conversations in which separatists expressed satisfaction to Russian intelligence agents that they had brought down an aircraft. "[158] Other sources suggest the missile was launched from the separatist-controlled town of Chernukhino. [351][352] Many other Russian media reprinted the photo which was immediately dismissed as crudely inauthentic. [356], On 25 December 2014, Russia's state-operated domestic news agency RIA Novosti quoted the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, saying he saw MH17 shot out of the sky by two Ukrainian jets. [258] On 7 September 2019, Tsemakh was released during a Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange. After obtaining permission, Dnipro Control attempted to contact MH17 for handing them off to RND Control at 16:20 local time (13:20UTC), but the aircraft did not respond. [59] Associated Press journalists reported that the Buk M-1 was operated by a man "with unfamiliar fatigues and a distinctive Russian accent" escorted by two civilian vehicles. Moscow releases audio blaming Ukraine downing MH17 flight that killed almost 300", Criminal investigation of MH17 plane crash by Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, "MH17 Witness Appeal November 2019 with the release of further recorded conversations", "Investigation crash MH17, 17 July 2014 Donetsk", "MH17 crash the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) updates", "Media Statement & Information on Flight MH17", "Full flight history for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17", "Malaysia Airlines plane MH17 'shot down' in Ukraine as it happened", "Map of a Tragedy: How MH17 Came Apart Over Ukraine", "Google map, that tells the story of every Dutch victim", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17&oldid=1157241449, This page was last edited on 27 May 2023, at 09:01. [124] The technical report was released on 13 October 2015,[125] and the criminal investigation reported some of their findings in September 2016. [207], In May 2016, Stratfor released satellite imagery taken five hours before the crash which showed a Russian Buk system travelling on a flatbed truck east through Makiivka, 40km away from Snizhne. [132], By 18 July 2014, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder had been recovered by separatists,[133] and three days later were handed over to Malaysian officials in Donetsk. [168], Witnesses in Torez reported sightings on the day of the incident of what appeared to be a Buk missile launcher,[174] and AP journalists reported sightings of a Buk system in separatist controlled Snizhne. [216] Investigators interviewed witnesses and examined forensic samples, satellite data, intercepted communications, and information on the Web. [3]:183 The militia reportedly claimed via social media that a Buk missile launcher, which they had previously seized and made operational, had been used to bring down the aircraft. [234][235] UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the United Kingdom "fully supports Australia and the Netherlands," calling on Russia to cooperate. The crew asked to remain at FL 330 and the air traffic controller approved this request, moving the other flight to FL 350. [3]:151 The cockpit section and the business class section of the aircraft began tearing into a number of pieces before the aircraft descended rapidly toward the ground. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17)[a] was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-controlled forces[4] on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. [33], At least twenty family groups were on the aircraft and eighty passengers were under the age of 18. [224][225] In 2016 the presence of the transloader of matching colour with a Buk missile was confirmed on a satellite photo of the area taken just a few hours before the downing of the airliner, which was described as "correlating with other evidence" by Stratfor who found the photo in DigitalGlobe archive. 7:01 7-Minute Listen Playlist Download Embed Enlarge this image An apartment building in Izium, Ukraine, that was damaged by Russian forces. The day Flight 17 was downed", "The haunting pilgrimage site of Saur Mogila", "U.S. air carriers to avoid Russia-Ukraine border airspace", "Air operators belatedly avoid Ukraine war zone", "Absturz von Flug MH17: Lufthansa flog zuletzt 56-mal ber Kriegsgebiet", "Travel tips: What Is the Altitude of a Plane in Flight? All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. [13] On the basis of the JIT's conclusions, the governments of the Netherlands and Australia held Russia responsible for the deployment of the Buk installation and began pursuing legal remedies in May 2018. [204] Other circumstantial evidence was presented separately by various parties that supported this version, identifying specific launcher vehicle, operator name, truck transporting it and its alleged route through Russia and Ukraine. [109] In February and April 2015 new remains were found on the site,[110][111] after which only two victims, both Dutch citizens, had not been identified.[111]. [51][52][53] Later, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported on the second Su-25 that was attacked on the same day at about 19:00 local time near the Ukrainian-Russian border in the area of Amvrosiivka. [76] Dozens of bodies fell into crop fields, and some fell into houses. [169] Around the same time Leonid Kharchenko, who was responsible for the Buk launcher convoy through DPR, reported to his commander Sergei Dubinsky that the launcher is "on the spot and has already downed one" Ukrainian ground-attack airplane. [276][277], On January 25, 2023, the ECHR ruled that it could adjudicate the case against Russia because evidence had established that the separatist militias were "under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation" and that Moscow "had a significant influence on the separatists' military strategy". [60] The witness reports backed up photographs and videos which had been posted online, of the Buk launcher in rebel-held territory. [60], American officials said that satellite data from infrared sensors detected the explosion of Flight MH17. [191] On the same day Ignat Ostanin, a Russian journalist, published an analysis of photos and films of Buk units moving in Russia and Ukraine in the days before and after the MH17 crash. About 90 minutes after the incident, Ukraine closed all routes in Eastern Ukrainian airspace, at all altitudes. The reporter also saw seven separatist tanks near the town. [280][281], In December 2017, the Russian investigative portal The Insider, the news agency McClatchyDC, and Bellingcat following a joint investigation, confirmed the identity of a high-ranking military officer using a call-sign "Dolphin" to be Colonel General Nikolai Fedorovich Tkachev. [359] As soon as evidence that a surface-to-air missile and not an air-to-air missile was used to down the Boeing, the Su-25 narrative was changed to one in which MH17 was shot down by a Buk launcher operated by the Ukrainian military. [25] In June 2014 there were about 1,212 aircraft in service, with 340 more on order. Share IT WAS an important demand, if one with little hope of success. [142], On 6 August 2014, the experts left the crash site due to concerns about their safety. [353][354] Later it was disclosed that the photo had been initially emailed to the vice-president of the Russian Union of Engineers by a self-described aviation expert who had found it on a Russian online forum. [18] According to a poll conducted by the Levada Center between 18 and 24 July 2014, 80% of Russians surveyed believed that the crash of MH17 was caused by the Ukrainian military. [5] Contact with the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was lost when it was about 50km (31mi) from the UkraineRussia border, and wreckage from the aircraft fell near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40km (25mi) from the border. [357][358], The claim that the Su-25 downed the Boeing was part of a strategic narrative that "Ukraine is responsible" and it used altered data as its key deception mechanism. [3]:162, The mid-air disintegration had caused the seats, pieces of interior wall and floor, overhead compartments, and other interior structures of the aircraft to fall out of the plane. In the first attack, on Sept. 3, 1978, rebels of the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army shot down a plane going from Kariba to the capital, Salisbury (now Harare). [94] Dutch authorities stated that they found 200 bodies on the train when it arrived at Kharkhiv, leaving almost 100 unaccounted for. [302] On the same day, Timmermans spoke at the UN Security Council Meeting, after the council had unanimously condemned the shooting down of MH17. Imagery published on social media has confirmed that a Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-22M airborne command post platform was among several military aircraft shot down inside Russia in an apparent . [3]:187188 According to the subsequent statement of the Security Service of Ukraine, three Buk missile systems were located on militia-controlled territory at the time that Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down. [169] Russian news agency TASS also reported eyewitness accounts claiming that the Donbas militia had just shot down a Ukrainian An-26 military aircraft with a missile. [284][285], In July 2015 a writ was filed in an American court by families of 18 victims accusing the separatist leader Igor Girkin of "orchestrating the shootdown" and the Russian government of being complicit in the act. [138] Approximately 200 special forces soldiers from Australia were also deployed to provide support for the JIT investigators. [333][334][335] Researchers said views were influenced by the televisual infosphere. [361][363] Aviation engineer Mark Solonin said that the Su-25 does not have an onboard radar and its missiles could not inflict damage similar to that found on Flight 17. [369] Vladimir Babak also said that the Su-25 is slower than a Boeing 777,[370] and the Su-25's maximum altitude was 7 kilometres (4.3mi), while MH17 was flying at an altitude of 10 kilometres (6.2mi). [251] One of the suspects, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Pulatov, expressed his intention to join the legal process by being represented in court. [293], Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said that the foreign ministry would be working with the Russian and Ukrainian governments with regard to the incident. [150][151], Soon after the crash both American and Ukrainian officials said that a 9M38 series surface-to-air missile strike was the most likely cause. Dutch officials were reported to be "stunned" by what they saw as a "premature announcement" and said that they had not provided this information. [371] Siemon T. Wezeman, a senior researcher from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the Popular Science digital magazine also said that it would be technically impossible for a Su-25 to down such a plane. [21], The crew were all Malaysian, while over two-thirds (68%) of the passengers were Dutch. [206], In July 2015, News Corp Australia published the transcript of a 17-minute video recorded at the scene shortly after the crash. It contains a section titled "Russian objectives and activity against UK and allied interests" which quotes MI6 as stating: "Russia conducts information warfare on a massive scale An early example of this was a hugely intensive, multichannel propaganda effort to persuade the world that Russia bore no responsibility for the shooting down of [Malaysian Airlines flight] MH-17 (an outright falsehood: we know beyond any reasonable doubt that the Russian military supplied and subsequently recovered the missile launcher)". [312], United States President Barack Obama said the United States would help determine the cause. It also published a statement from a witness who was said to be a separatist fighter (referred to by first name only) who confirmed that the launcher was placed in that area on the day of the Boeing crash to prevent Ukrainian airstrikes. [79][80][81], Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte initially complained about looting of personal belongings from the dead and the careless handling of their bodies, but later stated they had been handled with more care than originally thought. [122], In a statement made on 5 July 2017 by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders, it was announced that the JIT countries would prosecute any suspects identified in the downing of flight MH17 in the Netherlands and under Dutch law. [259] The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus, the JIT, and Blok added that the Netherlands regretted Tsemakh, who is a 'person of interest', being included in the exchange due to pressure on Ukraine from Russia. [19][20], On 17 November 2022, following a trial in absentia in the Netherlands, two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist were found guilty of murdering all 298 people on board flight MH17. [272][273] The presiding judge, Hendrik Steenhuis, said the court had concluded that MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile launched from an agricultural field in eastern Ukraine, citing extensive evidence that did not leave "any possibility for reasonable doubt whatsoever" and that Russia had overall control of the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine when the plane was shot down. A further 147 documents were not made public. UCMC, 19th of July 2014", " ", " , -26", "U.S. Sees Evidence of Russian Links to Jet's Downing", "Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirms damage of Su-25 in country's east", " ' ", " -25 ", " , 25", "Ukraine conflict: Russia accused of shooting down jet", "Russia Rejects 'Absurd' Accusation Over Downed Ukrainian Jet", "Ukraine: Air Force jet downed by Russian missile", "What happened? [106], On 22 August the bodies of 20 Malaysians (of 43 killed in the incident) arrived in Malaysia. [62][63] 37 airlines continued overflying eastern Ukraine and about 900 flights crossed the Donetsk region in the seven days before the Boeing 777 was shot down. The writ was brought under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991. [259] According to the Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok, the exchange had been delayed for a week so that Tsemakh could be questioned by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service as a witness about the events surrounding the downing of flight MH17. [397][398], Other conspiracy theories propagated by Russian pro-government media included claims that the Ukrainians had shot down the airliner by mistake, drawing parallels to the downing of Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 in 2001 (reported in December 2014[399]); that Ukrainian air traffic controllers had deliberately redirected the flight to fly over the war zone; and that the Ukrainian government had organised the attack to discredit the pro-Russian rebels. [379] Ukrainska Pravda questioned claims about the Ukrainian anti-aircraft unit and stated that Zaroshchenske was under control of pro-Russian forces on the day of the shoot-down. On 14 June 2014, a Ukrainian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 military transport was shot down on approach to Luhansk International Airport, with loss of nine crew members and forty troops. [372][373] Military and security analyst Luk Visingr also said that the Su-25 could not shoot down a Boeing 777. [313] Vice-president Joe Biden said the aircraft appeared to have been deliberately shot down, and offered American assistance for the investigation into the crash. [116], On 23 July 2014, two Ukrainian military jets were hit by missiles at the altitude of 17,000 feet (5,200m) close to the area of the MH17 crash. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters. [6] In a press statement, White House spokesman Josh Earnest called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine to allow for a full investigation. [3]:5455, 76, The positions of the aircraft wreckage suggest that the plane might have been upside down when the rear and middle sections disintegrated, and the middle portion probably crashed inverted while travelling rearward. A passenger plane carrying 172 passengers from Tehran to Damascus, Syria, made an emergency landing at a Russian-controlled air base in Syria on Feb. 6. [149], In August 2015, possible Buk missile launcher parts were found at the crash site by the Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT). [89], On 21 July, pro-Russian rebels allowed Dutch investigators to examine the bodies. [210], The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) issued its final report on the crash on 13 October 2015. A possible next step is to present the case to an international court or organization for their judgment. Two witnesses said the crew of the launcher and a military vehicle escorting it spoke with Moscow accents. [222] The video included some previously undisclosed recordings allegedly of tapped phone conversations between rebel fighters about the Buk. It was en route to Seoul from Anchorage, Alaska, when it strayed more than 200 miles (322 km) from its scheduled path and entered Soviet airspace. On the night following the downing of MH17, two Buk launcher vehicles, one of which carried three missiles, (out of a normal complement of four), was observed moving into Russia. [126] It also found the Buk missile system used had been transported from Russia into Ukraine on the day of the crash, and then back into Russia after the crash, with one missile less than it arrived with.
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