Disinfo: New data on the MH17 crash demonstrates that Russia was right

Summary

New revelations about the MH17 crash in Ukraine in 2014 just go to prove that the Russian side was right. It once again demonstrates that there are still a lot of questions and these questions call into serious doubt the biased position [on what caused the crash].

Disproof

This case adds a new spin to the Kremlin's disinformation campaign to discredit the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) inquiry into the downing of the flight MH17. The disinformation message refers to newly-released documents from 2016, possibly pertaining to the JIT investigation, that allegedly contradict its findings. According to Russian investigative journalism site the Insider, the documents in question list the coordinates of the points where the Ukrainian and Russian Buk-M1 systems known to intelligence had been located and conclude that none of them could have brought down the Malaysian airliner. However it is not an exhaustive list of BUK missiles that could have been located in the area of the disaster. See further reporting by the Insider. Joint Investigation Team (JIT), comprised of the the Dutch Public Prosecution Service officials and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, 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. On the basis of the investigation conducted by the JIT the Dutch Public Persecution service will persecute Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, Sergey Nikolayevich Dubinskiy, Oleg Yuldashevich Pulatov, and Leonid Volodymyrovych Kharchenko for causing the crash of the MH17 and murdering the 298 persons on board. The first session of the court proceedings is scheduled for March 9 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 MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable. The US has supported the decisions by the Netherlands and Australia.

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  • Reported in: Issue 184
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 18/02/2020
  • Outlet language(s) English, French, German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine
  • Keywords: MH17
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Disinfo: The MH17 trial will be a show process

The MH17 trial will be indeed a show process, where the accused are already proven guilty by the Western media and politicians.

Feb 17, 2020
Disproof

An unfounded conspiracy theory attempting to undermining the Joint International Investigation of the downing of the flight MH17.

A special team, known as the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), was established to conduct the criminal investigation of the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. The JIT comprises officials from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

Disinfo: There is no evidence of Russian intelligence activity in Ireland

According to the Times, teams of Russian (GRU) agents have been dispatched to Ireland to map undersea fiber-optic cables, with a view to “cutting communications in time of conflict.” A damning indictment that sounds suspiciously like a spy flick.

From the 1980s Hollywood premise you would almost believe the Russian agents would hoist a red flag atop one of these cables and dance the Troika along the Irish shore, but apparently they didn’t, leaving the Times without evidence of this supposed Russian meddling.

Feb 17, 2020
Disproof

This case is an example of Hahaganda, a common tactic in pro-Kremlin disinformation aimed at discrediting an opponent's claims through sarcasm and ridicule.

The article in the Times is based on an assessment of the Irish security services of an operation that took place in 2019, in which Russia intended to use technology to monitor data exchanges on the underseas cables to give Moscow an insight into internet communications. The agents in question were also monitored mapping Dublin Port, resulting in security increases at a number of landing sites around the Irish coastline.

Disinfo: Ukraine violates the terms of the deal with Gazprom

The Ukrainian company Naftogaz is filing new lawsuits against the Russian (company) Gazprom. Ukraine was supposed to abandon all far-fetched claims against Gazprom. This is in accordance with the terms of the contract between the companies concluded in December 2019.

Feb 17, 2020
Disproof

An unfounded, recurrent, narrative that Naftogaz of Ukraine blackmails Russia. The claim of the Ukrainian company Naftogaz against Russia because of lost assets in the Crimea in mentioned, but nothing is against Gazprom. The trial has been going on for several years, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration is in charge of the case. Naftogaz demands compensation of $5 billion from Russia for the loss of assets as a result of the occupation of Crimea. Including interest, this amount has grown to $8 billion. In 2019, the Court found in favour of Naftogaz, concluding that Russia is liable for the unlawful seizure of Naftogaz assets in Crimea under the bilateral investment treaty between Ukraine and Russia. At the moment, the second stage of the arbitration proceedings has begun which will determine the amount of compensation for Naftogaz's losses. Naftogaz claims that the agreement reached in December 2019 with Gazprom deals exclusively with gas transit issues, while the lawsuit that the Arbitration Court in The Hague is considering involves a completely different area. The difference is that Ukraine already nullified its claims directly against Gazprom for disrupting contracts for gas supplies to the EU, but did not agree to terminate trials against Russia because of lost assets in occupied Crimea. “Why are we suing if, before the New Year, we entered into a settlement? We concluded an agreement with Gazprom, and the Russian Federation is the second side of this process” Naftogaz reported. Background: The agreement between Naftogaz and Gazprom was reached at the end of December 2019. Gazprom paid Naftogaz about $ 3 billion in compensation for neglecting the terms of the previous contract for gas transit through the Ukrainian gas transport system to the European Union. It is on this key issue that Naftogaz previously won a trial against Gazprom.