Russian missile downed MH17 in 2014: Investigators

By Abdullah Asiran

BUNNIK, The Netherlands (AA) - An international investigation team claimed on Thursday that a Russian missile shot down flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014.

In a news conference in The Hague, the joint investigation team (JIT) said the missile which downed the Malaysian Airline plane resembles another Russian-made Buk missile, which crossed into Ukraine from Russian city Kursk four weeks prior to the incident.

The team said the Russian 53 Brigade were in possession of the missile.

The team added that the assailant will be announced once the investigation completes and requested eyewitnesses to chip in information.

In mid-November of 2016, Malaysia had warned it will identify the member of a pro-Russian separatist group by early 2018.

Attempts to form an international court to investigate the incident, which claimed the lives 298 people, were stymied by Russia in 2015.

The Kuala Lumpur-bound flight from Amsterdam was shot down in the troubled state of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

In an interim report released September 2016, the JIT determined MH17 was brought down from pro-Russian separatist controlled territory in Ukraine. Most of the dead were Dutch nationals.

Interim JIT findings confirmed an earlier technical report by the Dutch Safety Board that the aircraft was undeniably hit by a surface-to-air missile.

The JIT's report also said the launch site was near Pervomaiskiy -- a city in Kharkiv, Ukraine which was under the control of pro-Russian rebels at the time.