MALAYSIA Airlines Flight 17 was downed over eastern Ukraine by a Buk missile brought in from Russia to a pro-Russian area of eastern Ukraine, the head of the Dutch National Detective Force, Wilbert Paulissen said Wednesday.

 Speaking at a press conference in the Netherlands, Paulissen said there was conclusive evidence that the Buk, a Russian-made missile, shot down the passenger flight, and was subsequently returned to Russian territory, CNN stated.

 He made the comments at the release of a report by the Joint Investigation Team, a Dutch-led group of prosecutors gathering evidence for a potential criminal trial.

 The findings are the first released by the group, comprised of prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, in its criminal investigation into the downing of Flight MH17.

 The Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch citizens.

 Last year, a civilian investigation conducted by the Dutch Safety Board concluded that the Boeing aircraft was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile. But the investigation was not required to assign blame for the missile strike, and did not say who was responsible.

 The widely accepted theory is that the aircraft was shot down from within territory held by Russian-backed separatists, who were engaged in heavy fighting with Ukrainian forces at the time.

 On Monday, Russia’s defense ministry released radar data which it claimed refuted that theory, saying it showed that if the plane was shot down, it was done so by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian officials have not responded to the allegation. </s> The missile that brought down Malaysian Airline flight MH17 was transported into East Ukraine from Russia, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said they were not accusing Russia of involvement and there were 100 people "linked to the crash or the transport of the Buk" missile, but they are yet to determine who could be held criminally responsible.

Families of the 298 passengers and crew killed on the Boeing 777-300 flight have been told that the Buk missile used to shoot down the plane came into East Ukraine from Russia.

Hans de Borst, whose 17-year-old daughter perished, said he and other family members were briefed privately before the news conference to announce the preliminary results of the investigation today.

According to Mr de Borst, Dutch investigators said they had proof that a mobile Buk missile launcher had been moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia and was later returned.

Chief Dutch police investigator Wilbert Paulissen said:"Based on the criminal investigation, we have concluded that flight MH17 was downed by a Buk missile of the series 9M83 that came from the territory of the Russian Federation."

The conclusions came after a two-year Dutch-led criminal probe of the disaster.

A separate investigation by Dutch safety officials last year concluded that the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight was downed by a Buk missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Russia has consistently denied allegations that pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible for the disaster in July 2014.

On Monday, the Russian military said it has new radio-location data that show the missile that downed the aircraft did not originate from rebel-controlled territory, and said it would turn the data over to investigators.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that assertion today ahead of the Dutch report.

Referring to Russian radar data, he said: "If there was a rocket it could only have been launched from a different area.

“You can't argue with it, it can't be discussed."

As part of a joint investigation, Dutch police and judicial officials have been working with counterparts from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, seeking to gather the best possible evidence for use in prosecution of the perpetrators.

Forensic samples were taken from passengers' and crew members' bodies and luggage, and satellite data and communications intercepts were scrutinised. The team also appealed for information from witnesses who may have seen the missile launch.

About two-thirds of the passengers aboard MH17 were Dutch nationals and the crew members were Malaysians.

Malaysia proposed setting up an international tribunal to try those responsible for the plane's destruction, but Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution in favour of a tribunal. </s> "The conclusion, voiced by the JIT during a press conference on May 24, that the Buk air defense system, which launched a missile at the aircraft, arrived in Ukraine from Russia and belonged to the 53nd Air Defense Brigade stationed in Kursk, causes us regret," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has ignored a significant amount of information, including radar monitoring data that cannot be manipulated.

"In these circumstances, we have legitimate questions about the true reason for the JIT decision to announce the preliminary conclusions of the probe. In out opinion, all this only confirms our earlier concerns about the biased and one-sided approach to the ongoing investigation," the statement said.

"Nevertheless, we will continue to assist the [international] investigation so that the truth about the MN17 catastrophe is established, and the real culprits of the tragedy receive fair punishment," the ministry added.

READ MORE: Missile Allegedly Used to Down MH17 Invisible Due to Speed — Dutch Prosecutors

Earlier in the day, head of the Dutch National Police's Central Crime Investigation department Wilbert Paulissen said that the missile, which downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014, was launched by the Buk TELAR belonging to the Russian Armed Forces.

Back in 2016, the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team already presented the initial results of the criminal investigation into the crash, claiming that the airliner was downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile launcher which was delivered from the "territory of the Russian Federation to Ukraine."

Malaysian Airlines' Boeing 777 crashed in eastern Ukraine in July 2014 during its flight to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, while all 298 passengers and crew members on board were killed. </s> NIEUWEGEIN, Netherlands — Dutch-led criminal investigators said Wednesday they have solid evidence that a Malaysian jet was shot down by a Buk missile moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia.

Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Central Crime Investigation department of the Dutch National Police, said communications intercepts showed that pro-Moscow rebels had called for deployment of the mobile surface-to-air weapon, and reported its arrival in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.

From that and other evidence collected by the Joint Investigation Team, “it may be concluded MH17 was shot down by a 9M38 missile launched by a Buk, brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation, and that after launch was subsequently returned to the Russian Federation,” Paulissen told a news conference.

The conclusions were billed as results of a two-year Dutch-led criminal probe of the disaster that claimed 298 lives.

A separate investigation by Dutch safety officials last year concluded that the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight was downed by a Buk missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said the joint investigation findings differ in that they are designed to be solid enough to be used as evidence in a criminal trial. Where and when a trial might take place is still to be determined, Aling said.

Russia has consistently denied allegations that pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible. On Monday, the Russian military said it has new radio-location data that show the missile that downed the Boeing 777 did not originate from rebel-controlled territory, and said it would turn the data over to investigators.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that assertion on Wednesday ahead of the Dutch report.

“If there was a rocket it could only have been launched from a different area,” he told reporters, referring to Russian radar data. “You can’t argue with it, it can’t be discussed.”

In the Joint Investigation Team, Dutch police and judicial officials have been working with counterparts from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, seeking to gather the best possible evidence for use in prosecution of the perpetrators.

They have faced extraordinary challenges: the crime scene in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk oblast where the plane crashed on July 17, 2014, killing all aboard, was located in an active war zone, and during the days following the crash pro-Kremlin militants limited access to the site.

Eleven containers crammed with debris from the jetliner were ultimately brought to the Netherlands. A research team took soil samples in eastern Ukraine and established the location of cellphone towers and the layout of the local telephone network.

Forensic samples were taken from passengers’ and crew members’ bodies and luggage, and satellite data and communications intercepts were scrutinized. The team also appealed for information from witnesses who may have seen the missile launch.

About two-thirds of the passengers aboard MH17 were Dutch nationals; the crew members were Malaysians. Malaysia proposed setting up an international tribunal to try those responsible for the plane’s destruction, but Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution in favour of a tribunal. </s> An international criminal investigation into the shooting down of flight MH17 is likely to conclude that the plane was downed by a Buk missile fired from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine, diplomats say.



The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been gathering evidence for a possible criminal trial and is due to present its interim findings on Wednesday. Dutch police and prosecutors have been working with judicial colleagues from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

The report follows an earlier inquiry by the Dutch Safety Board. It concluded a missile fired by a sophisticated Buk surface-to-air system struck the Malaysia Airlines aircraft as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It exploded next to the cockpit. All 298 people on board were killed.

According to diplomatic sources, international investigators will give a precise Google location showing that the Buk was located in separatist-controlled territory, near the village of Snizhne.

The JIT has been working on the scenario that the Buk came from the Kremlin’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the Russian city of Kursk. It was smuggled across the Russian-Ukrainian border in July 2014 and spotted leaving rebel-held Donetsk on a low-loader, heading east.



After arriving in Snizhne on the afternoon of 17 July, the Buk was offloaded and driven to a field south of town, investigators believe. It shot down MH17 in error, believing it to be a Ukrainian army transport plane. The Buk was smuggled back across the Russian border early the next day.

The JIT’s findings are based on US satellite data, and multiple sightings of the Buk as it trundled through rebel-held areas. In a Russian-language video investigators urged witnesses who may have seen it to come forward.

“There is a wide presumption in diplomatic circles that this report will point to the involvement of pro-Russian rebels or Russia,” said Robert van de Roer, a Dutch diplomatic expert and commentator. “It will cause high waves.”

According to Van de Roer, investigators have not yet been able to identify “the guy who pushed the button” on the Buk missile. They do know the names of about 20 Russian servicemen from the 53rd brigade in Kursk who could form a “broad circle of suspects,” he said.

The names came from the British-led online investigation team Bellingcat. “I’m told by experts you need at least three or four men to handle a Buk,” Van de Roer added.

Van de Roer said he was pessimistic that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, would cooperate with the tribunal or hand over possible suspects to the Hague for trial. He also described the Dutch government’s approach as “bureaucratic and legalistic”.

“My fear is that this will end up as a kind of Lockerbie,” he said, adding that in the case of the 1988 Pan Am bombing it was never known if Abdelbaset al-Megrahi – convicted in 2001 – was the only perpetrator.

“The simple question is what will [British foreign secretary] Boris Johnson do? He has talked harsh words in the last few days over Russia in Syria. Will he be just as tough with the Russians over MH17?”

Russia has vehemently denied responsibility. On Monday the its ministry of defence released satellite data which it said proved the missile had not been fired from rebel territory. It suggested Ukraine was responsible.

In 2014, however, the same ministry claimed a mysterious Ukrainian fighter jet had shot down the Boeing 777. The “jet” disappeared from Russia’s latest presentation. MH17’s route had also changed.

Last December Bellingcat passed to Dutch prosecutors a detailed dossier of up to 100 Russian soldiers and officers who may have been involved. Bellingcat drew on open source data. The dossier included photos posted by soldiers on social networks as their military convoy drove towards the Ukrainian border.

The JIT is not expected to reveal the identities of the soldiers in its latest report. They are expected to be included in a future criminal file.

The tribunal has made public intercepted phone calls between separatist leaders. In one, a rebel asks what should be done with the Buk, newly arrived from Russia. In another a rebel says one of the Buk’s crew was left behind near the village of Snizhne and needs to be picked up.

A third conversation was recorded at 8am on 18 July, as the Buk went back to Russia. It began: “Good morning. Yesterday was a mess … I have nothing to say.” </s> The Netherlands and Australia Friday accused Moscow of being behind the 2014 shooting down of flight MH17 over war-torn eastern Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives, in a move which may trigger legal action. The move came a day after international investigators concluded that the Russian-made BUK missile which smashed into the Boeing 777 in mid-air on July 17, 2014 came from a Russian military brigade in Kursk.

The two countries “hold Russia responsible for its part in the downing” of the Malaysia Airlines flight, the Dutch government said in a statement on Friday.

They may now move towards submitting the complex dossier to an international judge or organisation, it added.

All 298 people on board the flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed when the missile slammed into the plane as it flew over territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Most of the dead were Dutch, but there were 17 nationalities including Australians on board.

“The downing of flight MH17 caused unimaginable suffering,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok a day after the latest findings from the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

“On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are now convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17,” he added.

“The government is now taking the next step by formally holding Russia accountable.”

State liability was invoked in cases where nations violate international law, the government said, warning it was a “complex legal process”.

“This is the legal avenue that the Netherlands and Australia have now chosen to pursue,” the statement added.

Moscow has vehemently rejected Thursday’s accusations, saying no such weapon ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border. It has long placed the blame for the disaster on Kiev.

The Russian foreign ministry denounced what it called an attempt to “discredit Russia in the eyes of the international community”.

But investigators, who painstaking recreated the BUK missile system’s route from Kursk across the border into rebel-held eastern Ukraine using videos and photos, stood by their findings.

The team “has come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia,” top Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen said.

“The 53rd Brigade forms part of the Russian armed forces,” he told reporters Thursday. </s> The Netherlands and Australia are holding Russia "accountable" for the 2014 downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, Dutch officials said Friday, in a move likely to lead to legal action.

The two countries "hold Russia responsible for its part in the downing" of the Malaysia Airlines flight, the Dutch government said in a statement.

The two countries may now move towards submitting the complex dossier to an international judge or organisation, it added.

The move came a day after investigators concluded that the Russian-made BUK missile which smashed into the plane in mid-air on July 17, 2014 came from a Russian military brigade in Kursk.

All 298 people on board the flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed. Most were Dutch, but there were 17 nationalities including Australian on board.

"The downing of flight MH17 caused unimaginable suffering," said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok a day after the latest findings from the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the disaster.

"On the basis of the JIT's conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are now convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17," he added.

"The government is now taking the next step by formally holding Russia accountable."

The government said state liability was invoked in cases where nations violate international law, but warned it was a "complex legal process and there are several ways to do this."

"This is the legal avenue that the Netherlands and Australia have now chosen to pursue," the statement added.

Moscow has rejected Thursday's accusations, saying no such weapon had ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border.

The Russian foreign ministry denounced what it called an attempt to "discredit Russia in the eyes of the international community".

But investigators, who painstaking recreated the BUK missile system's route from Kursk across the border into rebel-held eastern Ukraine, said they stood by their findings.

The Joint Investigation Team "has come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia," top Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen said.

"The 53rd Brigade forms part of the Russian armed forces," he told reporters Thursday.

Investigation officials have not yet said who actually fired the missile after it arrived in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, stressing that the investigation continues. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Investigators said they had evidence of the route taken by a Russian missile convoy

The missile that downed a Malaysia Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014 belonged to a Russian brigade, international investigators say.

For the first time, the Dutch-led team said the missile had come from a unit based in western Russia.

All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 died when it broke apart in mid-air flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

It was hit by a missile fired from rebel-held territory in Ukraine. Russia says none of its weapons was used.

But on Thursday Wilbert Paulissen, a Dutch official from the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), told reporters: "All the vehicles in a convoy carrying the missile were part of the Russian armed forces."

He restated the JIT's conclusion that the plane had been destroyed by a Russian-made Buk missile, adding that it had been supplied by the country's 53rd anti-aircraft brigade in Kursk.

At a news conference in the Dutch city of Utrecht, the investigators also showed social media pictures which they said traced the route the missile convoy had taken to reach eastern Ukraine.

What happened to MH17?

The incident occurred at the height of the conflict between government troops and pro-Russian separatists.

The plane left Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on 17 July 2014 and was due to arrive at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on the following day.

The plane lost contact with air traffic control about 50km (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In 2015, the Dutch Safety Board released an animated video showing the flight path of the plane

It crashed in the Donetsk area, in territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Footage was later released by the Ukrainian government suggesting that a Buk missile had been brought in from Russia on the day of the crash, and then taken back across the border the next day.

What has been said about the incident?

In October 2015 the Dutch Safety Board concluded that the plane had indeed been hit by a Buk missile.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How does a Buk missile system work?

In September 2016, the JIT - which includes officials from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine - reached a similar conclusion in a preliminary report.

It said it had "irrefutable evidence" that the missile had been brought in from Russian territory and fired from a field controlled by pro-Russian fighters.

The investigators simulated various trajectories of the warhead. They showed it had exploded metres above the aeroplane's nose, showering the aircraft with fragments.

On Thursday Russia restated its position that none of its forces had been involved. "Not a single anti-aircraft missile system from the Russian Federation has ever crossed the Russia-Ukraine border," the defence ministry in Moscow said.

Meanwhile Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised in a Facebook post (in Ukrainian) that he would "spare no effort to ensure that the actions of the Russian Federation as a state which supports terrorism get an appropriate assessment" in the International Court of Justice. </s> NIEUWEGEIN, Netherlands — Dutch-led criminal investigators said Wednesday they have solid evidence that a Malaysian jet was shot down in 2014 by a Buk missile that was moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia.

Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Central Crime Investigation department of the Dutch National Police, said communications intercepts showed that pro-Moscow rebels had called for deployment of the mobile surface-to-air weapon and reported its arrival on July 17, 2014, in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.

The deadly surface-to-air weapon that blasted Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 out of the sky that same day at 33,000 feet, killing all 298 people aboard, was launched from farmland in the rebel-held area of Pervomaiskiy, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne, the investigation found.

Witnesses there reported an explosion and a whistling sound and a patch of field was set on fire.

From that and other evidence collected by the Joint Investigation Team, "it may be concluded MH17 was shot down by a 9M38 missile launched by a Buk, brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation, and that after launch was subsequently returned to the Russian Federation," Paulissen told a news conference Wednesday in the Dutch town of Nieuwegein.

The conclusions of the investigative unit - which includes police and prosecutors from the Netherlands, Ukraine, Belgium, Australia and Malaysia - were consistent with previous reporting by The Associated Press, which established soon after MH17's destruction that a tracked Buk M-1 launcher with four SA-11 surface-to-air missiles had been sighted the same day in the rebel-controlled town of Snizhne near Pervomaiskiy.

A separate investigation by Dutch safety officials last year concluded that the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight was downed by a Buk missile fired from territory in Ukraine held by pro-Russian rebels.

Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said the joint investigation findings differ in that they are designed to be solid enough to be used as evidence in a criminal trial. Where and when a trial might take place is still to be determined, Aling said.

"The next question, of course, is who was responsible for this," Dutch chief prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said. He said investigators have identified 100 people they want to speak to who are believed to have been involved in the transport of the Buk launcher or its use.

Moscow officials have consistently denied allegations that pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible for downing the passenger plane. The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted quickly to the release of the international investigation's findings, calling the probe "biased and politically motivated."

The Dutch-led investigation ignored evidence offered by Russia and allowed Ukraine to manipulate the evidence and shape anti-Russian conclusions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov also denied that Russian air defense missile systems ever have been sent to Ukraine.

"Russian missile defense systems, including Buk, have never crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border," Konashenkov said.

Earlier this week, the Russian military said that newly found data from radar in southern Russia showed that the missile that downed the Malaysia Airlines jet did not originate in rebel-controlled territory. It said it would turn that data over to investigators.

The Russian maker of the Buk air defense missile system also contested the conclusions of the Dutch-led investigation.

Mikhail Malyshevsky, an adviser to the director of the state-controlled Almaz-Antei consortium, said Wednesday that an analysis of the plane's shrapnel-ridden fragments show that it couldn't have been downed by a missile launched from a rebel-controlled area in eastern Ukraine.

Malyshevsky said the missile likely came from an area that Russian officials have previously described as Ukraine-controlled.

Ukrainian officials countered that the Dutch-led team's findings prove Russia's complicity in the tragedy.

"It is proved that the Buk had come into our territory from Russian territory," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said. "After the crime, when terrorists tried to cover up traces, the Buk was immediately taken back to Russia. Thus, we have solid proof of who to blame for this dreadful crime and who bears full responsibility for the terrorist attack."

Police and judicial officials from five countries on the Joint Investigation Team have been working together to gather the best possible evidence for use in prosecution of the perpetrators.

They have faced extraordinary challenges. The crime scene in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk oblast region where the plane was brought down on July 17, 2014, was located in an active war zone. During the days following the downing, pro-Kremlin militants limited access to the crash site.

Eleven containers crammed with debris from the jetliner were ultimately brought to the Netherlands. A research team took soil samples in eastern Ukraine and established the location of cellphone towers and the layout of the local telephone network to verify intercepted phone calls from the militants.

Forensic samples were taken from passengers' and crew members' bodies and luggage, and satellite data and communications intercepts were scrutinized. The team also appealed for information from witnesses who may have seen the missile launch.

About two-thirds of the passengers aboard MH17 were Dutch nationals; the crew members were Malaysians. Malaysia proposed setting up an international tribunal to try those responsible for the plane's destruction, but Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution in favor of a tribunal.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby hailed the investigators' report as "another step toward bringing to justice those responsible for this outrageous attack."

Associated Press Writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this story.
Dutch-led investigators say Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed over eastern Ukraine in 2014 by a Buk missile that had come from Russia.