Disinfo: MH17: JIT-investigation not interested in truth, BUK belonged to the Ukrainian Army

Summary

Based on the activities of the JIT investigation team, it became clear that revealing of the truth about the crash is not the goal of the experts. The information that the Buk-missile with the serial number 8869032 was transferred to a military unit in Ukraine during Soviet times was not verified. Instead of real evidence, the “experts” of the international investigation team JIT presented only dubious photos and videos of unknown origin that could not confirm the advertised version of Russia’s guilt.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory claiming that the Ukrainian side was involved in the shooting down the MH17, with no evidence provided. An example of the many competing and occasionally contradictory stories around the downing of flight MH17. The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy (or: Pervomaiskyi). At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT), has concluded that the BUK-TELAR used to down MH17, originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation. In September 2016, the JIT disclosed that MH17 was downed with a BUK missile of the 9M38 series. In Eastern Ukraine, two parts of such a missile were found. These parts are the so-called ‘venturi’ and the ‘casing’. This regards, on the one hand, the exhaust of the missile (venturi) and on the other hand the casing of the missile engine (casing). The missile engine’s casing shows the number 9 д 1318869032. The JIT-investigation up to now has found that 9д 131 relates to the number of the missile engine of the 9M38 type and/or 9M38M1 type. The number 8 is the manufacturer’s code, namely: the Dolgoprudny Research and Manufacturing Enterprise in Moscow. The number 86 indicates the year of production, namely 1986. And the number 9032 is the unique identification number of this specific missile engine. 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 MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable. The US has supported the decisions by the Netherlands and Australia.

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de.news-front.info (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 173
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16/11/2019
  • Outlet language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Australia, The Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: MH17
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Disinfo: Ukraine is an anti-Russian project of the CIA

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for the first time, directly and openly called modern Ukraine “the American project”. According to Pompeo, the weapons that the United States supplied to Ukraine were intended for the “war with Russia”. Ukraine is an anti-Russian project of the CIA, whereby Ukraine has been assigned the role of weakening, and possibly destructing, Russia.

Nov 15, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about Ukraine, claiming it is under the external control of the US. Conspiracy theory without any evidence. The claims are based on a speech given by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on “The Lessons of 1989: Freedom and Our Future,” in Berlin, Germany, on November 8, 2019 in which he answered the following question "How committed is the United States to peace and stability in Ukraine? Without any preconditions?" By the project, he means working on peace and stability in Ukraine as can be seen in the transcript. His exact words were as follows: "Very. Very committed. Yes, yes. It’s a project we have been working on. I remember I was at the Munich Security Conference when I was a member of Congress in Kansas, and I remember pushing the topic, at this time, was whether defensive weapons system would be provided to the Ukrainians. This must have been 2015 or ’16. And I remember, and I remember Germany deciding it was a bad idea and America deciding it was a bad idea, President Obama deciding it wasn’t something he wanted to do. In fact, President Trump has now not once, not twice, but three times come to provide the tools so that the Ukrainian people can protect themselves from Russian aggression in the Donbas. We’re proud of that. We think it makes sense. We think it makes sense for freedom. We think it makes sense for Europe and we think it makes sense for the world and Ukrainian sovereignty. We’re very clear about our position on the invasion of Crimea that happened in the previous administration and how it is we’re going to work to develop a prosperous Ukraine that is less corrupt and capable of moving itself towards the West". Furthermore, Ukraine is a sovereign state. The relations between the US and Ukraine are bilateral relations between two independent countries. The USA recognised Ukraine as an independent state on 25th December 1991. The US's policy is centred on realising and strengthening a stable, democratic, prosperous and free Ukraine, more closely integrated into Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures. See similar disinformation cases here.

Disinfo: Anti-Russian position helped NATO countries temporarily freeze a drift in different directions

A split between western European countries and more recent EU member states occurred right after the EU and NATO expansion. Pro-US eastern European and Baltic states eagerly take part in American projects which heighten tension in relations with Russia, whereas founding EU countries show greater restraint. For a short period of time NATO countries united around anti-Russian position after Ukrainian coup d’etat, but currently, are drifting apart again.

Nov 15, 2019
Disproof

This publication is one of many disinformation cases about the US military presence in Europe. It is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about aggressive, anti-Russian Western policies and a coup d'etat in Ukraine. It groundlessly alleges that NATO countries are kept together only thanks to consolidation around their anti-Russian positions. There was no coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s violent dispersal of peaceful student protests against his sudden decision to withdraw from the Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk here. Read earlier disinformation cases alleging that the US will easily betray the Baltic states and hand them over to Russia, that the US does not care about the Baltic states and wants Russia to buy them, and that the Pentagon admits that the US will be unable to protect Poland from a Russian invasion.

Disinfo: The United States has not invested in Georgia

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Nov 15, 2019
Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on the lack of US support and assistance to Georgia. In 2009 the US and Georgia signed a US-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership, which advances bilateral cooperation on priority areas, such as defence and security; economic, trade, and energy issues; people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Read more about US-Georgia relations. According to the statistical data released by Geostat (1996-2019), the first U.S. investments appeared in 1997 and amounted to USD 96 651.9 thousand. According to the data for 1997, the United States was the largest investor, followed by Australia, the United Kingdom and Austria. In coming years, other counties took the lead by the number of investments. In the second quarter of 2019, the United States came third after Turkey and the Netherlands by the amount of foreign direct investments. See the past disinformation narratives on US investments and assistance here and here. More about the NATO/US military assistance to Georgia can be found here. See examples of US commercial projects in Georgia by Myth Detector.