Author Govert SchullerPosted on Categories Netherlands Today it is four years ago that flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine killing all 15 crew and 283 passengers on board. Because 193 of the passengers were Dutch the Dutch government was given the lead to investigate its cause. First they established that it was a BUK surface-to-air missile which caused the plane to disintegrate and then this year they established that the BUK system came from a Russian military base. [1][2]
“The JIT [Joint Investigation Team] is convinced that the BUK-TELAR that was used to down MH17, originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade (hereinafter 53rd brigade), a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation.”[3]
So far there has been minimal cooperation from the Russian government and they flat-out deny any involvement.
Yesterday the foreign ministers of the G7, including US Secretary of State Pompeo, have made a statement supporting the work of the JIT and calling on Russia to cooperate:
“The JIT’s findings on Russia’s role in the downing of MH17 are compelling, significant and deeply disturbing. The G7 recalls that UN Security Council Resolution 2166 demands that all states cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability. We are united in our support of Australia and the Netherlands as they call on Russia to account for its role in this incident and to cooperate fully with the process to establish the truth and achieve justice for the victims of MH17 and their next of kin.”[4]
So far nobody has been indicted, though the investigative cooperative Bellingcat, which had to endure multiple cyber attacks from Russia [5], has identified a Russian officer who was involved. His name is Oleg Ivannikov and is identified as a “high-ranking Russian GRU officer”.[6]
With Trump’s disgraceful and almost treasonous subjugation to Putin at the Helsinki summit it is clear that the cause of justice for the victims and their families will not get a helping hand from him.
[1]. https://www.yahoo.com/news/mh17-anniversary-four-years-tragic-084026497.html.
[2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17.
[3]. https://www.om.nl/onderwerpen/mh17-crash/@103196/update-criminal-0/.
[4]. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-foreign-ministers-statement-on-mh17.
[5]. https://www.threatconnect.com/blog/russia-hacks-bellingcat-mh17-investigation/.