According to researchers, Putin approved the delivery of an anti-aircraft system to separatists in eastern Ukraine. There were no indications that Putin had ordered the flight to be shot down.
15:54•Updated 18:21
President of Russia Vladimir Putin probably approved the delivery of the anti-aircraft system that was used to shoot down the Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The team that investigated the case reports on the evidence.
– There are strong indications that the Russian president decided to deliver the Buk anti-aircraft system to the separatists of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”, the investigative team said in a statement.
The group’s assessment is based on telehearing data.
On the other hand, there are no indications that Putin was about to give the order to shoot down the flight.
On Wednesday, the investigators said that they had gone through all the leads, but according to them, no one can be prosecuted in the case.
Russia has denied that it had anything to do with the plane crash.
In July 2014, the downed flight was on its way from the Netherlands to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by a Russian-made missile. At the time of the accident, fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces was already underway in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where the plane crashed.
The BBC has reported (you go to another service) of the investigators’ report, according to which Russia had “full control of the Donetsk People’s Republic” at the time of the accident.
Almost 300 passengers of the plane were killed in the attack. 196 of the victims were from the Netherlands, and there were passengers from at least Malaysia, Australia, Britain and Belgium on board the plane.
Source: AFP, Reuters
The news was updated on February 8, 2023 at 17:07 with additional information about the original accident.