Yana Stavska15:22, 21.02.23

The investigators managed to establish that the Buk anti-aircraft missile system, which shot down the Boeing, came from Russia and crossed the border on its own.

Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the rank of “guards” to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade, according to the legal information portal.

The occupiers were awarded “for massive heroism and bravery, resilience and courage shown by the personnel of the brigade in military operations for the protection of the Motherland and state interests.”  

“To give the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade the honorary name “Guards” and in the future to call it: 53 Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade,” Putin’s decree reads  .

The MH17 case – what is known

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014 over the Russian-occupied territory of the Donetsk region. All 298 people on board died. Most of the dead (196 people) were citizens of the Netherlands.

On May 24, 2018, the Joint Investigation Team, which includes representatives of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine, provided additional evidence of Russia’s key role in the MH17 crash. The group came to the conclusion that the Buk anti-aircraft missile complex, which shot down the plane, belonged to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, which is stationed in Kursk.

The trial of the suspects in the downing of the Malaysian Boeing will begin on March 9, 2020. They will be prosecuted for shooting down the plane and causing the death of the passengers under Article 162 of the Dutch Criminal Code.

On July 4, BBC News reported that at the end of June, Ukrainian special services detained former anti-aircraft gunner Volodymyr Tsemakh in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, in Snizhny, in connection with the case of the  MH17 crash .

In addition, the journalists of “Nastoyascheche vremy” found a video on which Tsemakh probably says that he was hiding the “Buk” that shot down the “Boeing”. The material presents an archival video from 2015 in which Tsemakh tells the Russian version of the events in the “Boeing-777” MH17 case. According to this version, DPR militants were targeting Ukrainian attack aircraft, and one of the Ukrainian attack aircraft allegedly shot down a Malaysian Boeing. In the video, Tsemakh says that he pulled out “some kid” and hid “something”. What exactly he was hiding is not to be heard, since the authors “baked” this word. However, the journalists of “Nastoyascheche vremnia” suggested that if you read lips, the short “baked” word had the letter U. And, most likely, it is the word “Buk”.

As  Bellingcat reported , investigators managed to establish that the Buk anti-aircraft missile system, which shot down the Boeing, came from Russia and crossed the border on its own, that is, it was carried by a truck. It was also possible to identify 12 people involved in the case, but not all of them were involved in the downing of the plane – someone played the role of an informant. In total, according to Bellingcat, about 20 people were involved in the downing of MH17.

The judgment in this case was issued by the District Court of The Hague in November 2022 .

(C)UNIAN 2023