Disproof
One of the multiple disinformation narratives on the downing of flight MH17 denying Russia's responsibility.
The Dutch-led criminal investigation by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been ongoing since 2014. On 28 September 2016, the JIT announced that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by a BUK TELAR missile system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the town of Pervomaiskiy in Eastern Ukraine, from where the missile was launched. After firing, the system, with one missing missile, went back to the Russian Federation. On the 24 May 2018, the JIT announced its conclusion that the BUK TELAR used to shoot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces from Kursk in the Russian Federation.
On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT, consisting of law enforcement agencies from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service is prosecuting Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of flight MH17 and murdering all 298 persons on board. The Public Prosecution Service alleges that the four cooperated to obtain and deploy the BUK TELAR with the aim of shooting down an aircraft. Public hearings started on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands.
The European Union and NATO have called on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability. On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the Buk installation that was used to down Flight MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable.
On top of that, on 10 July 2020, the Dutch government decided to bring Russia before the European Court of Human Rights for its role in the downing of Flight MH17. As stated on the government's website, it "attaches importance to continuing the meetings with Russia on the matter of state responsibility. The purpose of these meetings is to find a solution that does justice to the enormous suffering and damage caused by the downing of Flight MH17."
You can see other examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation on the MH17 case in our database, such as claims that the Security Service of Ukraine imposed the theory that MH17 was shot down by a Russian BUK; that Ukrainians shot down MH17 using Kolchuga station with the help of NATO; that the crash of MH17 was triggered by an explosion on board; that the plane was not downed by a BUK missile, but rather by a Ukrainian fighter; that the trial in The Hague is not justice but information warfare; or that it is a US provocation against Russia.
