Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 25 May 2018

Probe: Missile that

downed MH17 came

from Russia-based unit

witnesses who can testify serial number, which they
about the involvement of said demonstrated it was
the Russian military's 53rd made in Moscow.
anti-aircraft missile brigade. However, investigators said
Prosecutor Fred Wester- they could not yet say with
beke said the new conclu- certainty that it was the ex-
sion raised new questions, act missile used to down
"such as the question about MH17. They appealed for
how actively involved the witnesses to come forward
brigade itself was in bring- with more information
ing down Flight MH17." about the missile and the
Westerbeke said the JIT is role of the Russian military
not yet ready to identify in transporting it.
suspects, but added: "I can In a statement, Australian
say that we are now enter- Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
In this July 17, 2014. file photo, people walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger
plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine. ing the ... last phase of the said: "That a sophisticat-
Associated Press investigation." ed weapon belonging to
Prosecutors said in 2016 that the Russian Army was dis-
By MIKE CORDER echoed findings published catastrophe, its members the plane was shot down patched and used to shoot
Associated Press in 2016 by the Bellingcat in- would better rely on facts by a Buk 9M38 missile fired down a civilian aircraft
BUNNIK, Netherlands (AP) vestigative group. and witness testimony and from territory controlled by should be of grave interna-
— The missile used to shoot Russia has always denied not fakes produced by Bell- Russia-backed rebels, using tional concern. We are dis-
down a Malaysia Airlines involvement in the down- ingcat and Ukraine's Se- a mobile launcher trucked cussing these findings with
passenger jet over eastern ing of Flight 17, which was curity Service," the Russian in from Russia and hastily our partners and consider-
Ukraine in 2014, killing all en route from Amsterdam Defense Ministry said in a returned there. ing our options."
298 aboard, belonged to to Kuala Lumpur, Malay- statement. Thursday's presentation Ultimately, any suspects
a Russia-based military unit, sia, when it was blown out The Russian Foreign Ministry went a step further by identified and charged will
an international team of of the sky at 33,000 feet also criticized the investiga- identifying the exact unit be prosecuted in Dutch
investigators said Thursday (about 10,000 meters) tors for allegedly ignoring allegedly involved in the courts — if they can be ar-
after painstakingly studying over war-ravaged eastern evidence provided by Rus- transport. It showed a rested and brought to trial.
video and photos of a mili- Ukraine on July 17, 2014. sia, including radar surveil- compilation of video and Of the 298 people killed,
tary convoy. Bodies, debris and burn- lance of the airspace at photos from social media 196 were Dutch, 42 were
The criminal investigation ing wreckage were strewn the time of the flight. tracing the missile brigade Malaysian and 27 were
team "has concluded that over a field of sunflowers "In these circumstances, convoy's journey in the Australian.
the Buk Telar with which near the rebel-held village we have legitimate ques- weeks before the incident. Ukrainian President Petro
Flight MH17 was shot down of Hrabove in the Donetsk tions about the true under- "All findings from this foren- Poroshenko said in a Face-
is from the 53rd anti-aircraft region of eastern Ukraine, lying cause of the decision sic investigation confirm book post that he would
missile brigade from Kursk about 40 kilometers (25 of the JIT to disclose the the earlier conclusion of "do everything possible to
in the Russian Federation," miles) from the Russian bor- preliminary conclusion," the the JIT that Flight MH17 was ensure that the actions of
said Wilbert Paulissen, head der, where fighting had Foreign Ministry statement shot down by 9M38 series the Russian Federation as
of the Netherlands' Nation- been raging for months. said. missile," said Jennifer Hurst a state which supports ter-
al Crime Squad, referring to On Thursday, Russia criti- Prosecutors said they have of the Australian Federal rorism get an appropriate
the missile system used. cized the Joint Investiga- presented their findings to Police. assessment" in the Interna-
It was the clearest link yet tion Team, or JIT, for relying Moscow and are seeking Investigators displayed tional Court of Justice.
published by the investiga- on claims by Bellingcat. answers, but so far have parts of the engine casing Dutch Prime Minister Mark
tors to the involvement of "If the international investi- not received a response. and exhaust system of a Buk Rutte cut short a visit to
Russian military in the dead- gative team is indeed inter- The international team run- 9M38 series missile recov- India so he could chair a
ly surface-to-air missile strike ested in tracking down the ning the criminal investiga- ered from eastern Ukraine Cabinet meeting to discuss
on the Boeing 777, and it real culprits of the MH17 tion appealed for help from and showed photos of its the findings.q