Military expert Igor Tikhonov explained to Pravda.Ru why Russia will not negotiate with the West on compensation for those killed in the crash of Boeing flight MH17 in the sky over Donbass.
How did the Boeing die? A film by Andrey Karaulov
On May 25, the Netherlands and Australia blamed the Russian Federation for the crash of the MH17 flight. The final report of the international investigative team has been published, in which Russia is called upon "to enter into a dialogue in order to reach a solution to compensate for the enormous suffering and damage caused by the downing of MH17." The next step could be the transfer of the case to an international court or other organization, the authors of the government statement threaten.
Investigators found it difficult to answer when and to which court the results of the investigation would be submitted. The main conclusion is that Boeing was shot down from the Buk air defense system, which belonged to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade of the RF Armed Forces from Kursk.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced joint sanctions against Russia by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and the Netherlands. The conclusions of the Netherlands and Australia were supported by the European Union and NATO. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tweeted that the incident is "an example of the Kremlin's neglect of innocent lives." "The Kremlin believes that it can act with impunity ... The Russian government must now answer for its actions," the head of British diplomacy said.
As he said "Pravda Ru" military expert, retired colonel Igor Tikhonov, The West is trying to develop this topic unprovenly in order to "again poke us in the dirt with our faces." No one seeks to show the facts, the Pravda.Ru expert noted. And they are such that the shooting of the Buk with a range of up to ten kilometers is provided by a whole weapons complex. This is a ground-based target detection station that directs, guides the missile, accompanies the target and gives the command to launch one of the installations.
“If we allegedly did this from Kursk, then from Kursk to Donetsk there are three hundred kilometers and the firing range of the Buk does not allow hitting such a target ... And if we allegedly brought a launcher to the territory of Ukraine, then this machine cannot fire on its own, it has there must be a guidance station, the TTX installation itself cannot independently guide,” Igor Tikhonov told Pravda.Ru.
According to the Pravda.Ru expert, Russia will not conduct any dialogue on compensation, because it will not accept the results of the investigation. “They will begin to impose sanctions on the accounts of our enterprises abroad by any means through European courts and try to take this money by the decision of the Hague court. And what kind of court this is, the case of Yugoslav leader Milosevic showed. He died in prison, and then the Hague court said: , but he is not to blame, it turns out," Igor Tikhonov noted in an interview with Pravda.Ru.
“I don’t believe that the Americans, with their most powerful aerospace forces, did not have satellites hanging over Ukraine at that time. Therefore, I think that let them open their cards, meet and look calmly with us,” Igor Tikhonov summed up in an interview with correspondent of Pravda.Ru.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a conversation with his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok, said that he had not heard from him any reliable facts that could prove Russia's involvement in the crash of the Malaysian Boeing MH17.
The plane crash happened in July 2014. The plane was shot down in the sky over the Donbass, killing 298 people.
Like Pravda.Ru, this commission's current resolution on Russia's guilt is far from the first. Already in 2016, experts had serious doubts about the quality of the work of the commission itself and the true goals of its work. In particular, President of the Partner Foundation civil aviation", Honored Pilot of the USSR Oleg Smirnov then he said: "This version is not the first, but the next one in an absolutely mediocre and unprofessional investigation of this grave tragedy. What is happening cannot be called an information war except. All studies are carried out with gross violations of international aviation rules."
The International Commission of Inquiry into the crash of the Malaysian Boeing 777 flight MH17, today released the first preliminary results of its work.
In August 2014, the International Investigation Team (Joint Investigation Team - JIT) was created. Representatives of Russia were not included in it. Today in The Hague was presented the results of the investigation of the International Investigation Group. Here are 10 facts that came to light from this investigation.
We emphasize, only facts, without any value judgments and only from this investigation.
Fact number 1. 12 countries participated in the investigation.
The international investigation team includes representatives from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine, acting with the support of a UN Security Council resolution.
Investigation video from JIT (in English)
Fact number 2. Investigators completely ruled out the version of an air attack, which was considered a priority by the Russian Investigative Committee.
According to Fred Westerbeke, there is no doubt that the liner was shot down by a surface-to-air missile:
“At first, the investigation team ruled out two possible scenarios - an accident and terrorist act inside the aircraft, after which she focused on the scenario of the destruction of the Boeing by another aircraft, which was also excluded, based on radar data provided by Russia, Ukraine and an analysis of the aircraft's conversations with controllers on the ground. Therefore, the investigation claims that MH17 was shot down from the ground.”
Fact number 3. The liner was shot down by a 9M38 surface-to-air missile used in the Buk anti-aircraft missile system.
In the cockpit of the "Boeing" stuck striking element of the rocket from the installation "Buk".
The investigation compared the fragments of the alleged means of destruction, found at the crash site, with the comparison material. For this, disassembly various types missiles of the 9M38 series of the Buk air defense system and carried out comparative analysis given support material with metal fragments found at the crash site.
Video from an international team of investigators about the weapons that shot down MH17
Fact number 4. "Buk" was near the village of Snezhnoye. The launch site was under the control of the DPR separatists.
Proposed launch site.
Map of the location of the installation "Buk" and "Boeing".
“The investigation team believes that the launch of the Buk was carried out from the field of a farm located near locality Pervomaiskoye, which was under the control of the separatists. The rocket launch site was under the control of the rebels, ”said Wilbert Paulissen.
That the Buk fired from the area near Snizhne is based on numerous pieces of evidence, including work on the spot. Additional evidence was provided by the United States and the European Space Agency.
Fact No. 5. The anti-aircraft missile system was brought from Russia and, after the shelling of the Boeing, went back to Russia.
Video: Animation-reconstruction of the Buk movement from Russia.
“The international investigation team managed to establish most of the route followed by the Buk anti-aircraft missile system to the territory of Ukraine, as well as the route of its movement in the opposite direction.
This became possible thanks to the processing of information obtained from the records of intercepted telephone conversations, testimonies of witnesses, photographs and video materials posted in in social networks, as well as video material that has not yet been made public and was obtained from a witness.
The air defense system moved from the territory of Russia to the territory of Eastern Ukraine and was later transported on a white tractor of the Volvo brand and a trawl. This vehicle was accompanied by several cars and people in military uniform”, — said the international investigators.
Fact No. 6. The version of the Russian side that the launch was carried out from the Zaroshchensky area was not confirmed.
Interception of negotiations over Zaroshchensky
The investigators concluded that there could not have been a shot from the Zaroshchensky shot (this place was indicated in Russia as the alleged location of the Buk). Representatives of the investigation stated that they checked the Russian version, and this version was recognized as untenable.
“Buk was not there, and moreover, in July separatists controlled Zaroshchenskoe. That the Buk fired from the area near Snizhne is based on numerous pieces of evidence, including surveys of the area.”
Fact number 7. The investigation does not know for sure whether the shelling of the Boeing was intentional or accidental. But in the recordings of the negotiations one could feel the surprise after the disaster.
Fact number 7. Investigators have not yet accused Russia or any specific citizens of Russia.
So far, no one has been officially identified as a suspect. In their statements, the investigators spoke as accurately as possible about the role of Russia. They never said directly that the country is guilty or involved in the disaster. But it was definitely established that the installation with the crew was brought across the border by an organized group.
“…The command structure is being investigated. Who gave the order to bring the BUK self-propelled launcher to Ukraine and who ordered the downing of the MH17 flight? Did the BUK crew make the decision on their own, or did they follow the order of their command? These questions are important for qualifying crimes committed by suspected perpetrators.” (Quoted from a press release from the International Investigation Team).
Fact #8: The JIT told relatives of the victims that investigators know the names of 100 people involved in the death of MH17.
The chief prosecutor of the Netherlands, Fred Westerbeke, reiterated that he considered the evidence compelling. According to him, the investigation outlined a circle of 100 people who, one way or another, may be involved in the death of the Boeing.
It is emphasized that we are talking about the suspects, not the accused. Because the investigation needs to establish whether the crew acted independently or on orders.
Fact #9. The investigation period has been extended until 2018.
In eastern Ukraine, the Russian armed forces were blamed for the disaster. JIT experts did not report anything new. At the same time, the investigators again passed over in silence the most controversial allegations about the "Russian trace".
We know, but we won't tell
"The investigation team examined all available images and found that the Buk air defense system has a number of unique features.<…>It has been established that the SAM that shot down the Boeing came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade from Kursk, Russian Federation," said Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Dutch National Police's investigation department.
The team members, after comparing dozens of images, concluded that the "unique features" point to a Buk in service with the Russian brigade. Details - which photos were compared and what unique features were identified by the investigators - were not reported.
The investigation suspects about a hundred people in the preparation of the rocket launch, but their names were not made public.
Rocket from the past
The following "evidence" is also given: the number of the rocket, parts of which were found along with the wreckage of the aircraft, indicates that it was "produced in Moscow in 1986."
At the same time, the head of the group, the chief prosecutor of the Netherlands, Fred Westerbeke, noted that he could not answer the question of who is responsible for the atrocity. But, as he stressed, the investigation "steadily continues."
Behind last years, according to the head of the oversight agency, "a lot of evidence and evidence has been received, but we are still not ready" for the indictment.
incomprehensible voices
Earlier, the investigation team released a documentary film about these events, proving that the Buk was transported to the Donbass from Russia by militias.
In addition, JIT referred to records of some telephone conversations. On the tape, someone says that a Buk is needed to counter enemy aircraft. Neither then nor later did the group explain whose voice it was, how the authenticity of the tape was confirmed, and how it proved that the Buk was being transported across the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The conclusions of the JIT coincide with the version of the so-called independent research group Bellingcat. In June 2017, Bellingcat said they had identified the Buk that shot down the Malaysian Airlines plane from publicly available photographs.
Withdrawn from service
In the Netherlands, as another proof of the "Russian trace", they demonstrated striking elements of a rocket in the form of an I-beam (butterfly). They were found at the scene of the tragedy after some time. They are indeed equipped with the warheads of missiles that are in service with the Russian army. However, no traces of I-beams were found on the fuselage of the downed Boeing, as noted by the Russian side.
The Russian Almaz-Antey concern suggested that the anti-aircraft missile system fired a Ukrainian 9M38 missile. Her warhead is equipped with striking elements in the form of cubes. Missiles of this modification were produced until 1986, and in 2011 they were withdrawn from service in the Russian air defense.
Misunderstood or ignored
Later, Almaz-Antey noted that the JIT simply ignored or misrepresented some of the information provided by Russia. Although it was declassified specifically for this investigation technical documentation on 9M38 and 9M38M1 missiles, which are used by various modifications of the Buk.
In October 2015, Almaz-Antey presented the results of an experiment - a test detonation of a missile warhead near the fuselage of a decommissioned aircraft. The results did not confirm the conclusions of the JIT experts that the launch was made from the vicinity of the city of Snezhnoye, and that the 9M38M1 missile, which is in service with the Russian armed forces, was used.
Copy the iframe
The Netherlands and Australia have officially blamed Russia for the missile attack on a Malaysian Airlines Boeing that killed 298 people 4 years ago. The international investigation has received all the evidence that the plane was shot down by the Buk launcher brought to Ukraine from near Kursk.
Russia delivered the Buk anti-aircraft missile system to the militants, Russia urgently took it out after the fall of the Boeing MH17, and now Moscow is hindering the international investigation and is not providing information to investigators - prosecutors and police from Holland, Malaysia, Australia and other countries. This was officially announced by the governments of Australia and the Netherlands.
“We will inform the UN Security Council of the findings of the investigation team and the decision to recognize Russia as legally responsible. We see that our allies support these steps,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The countries of the European Union, the United States of America and the NATO bloc also officially called on Russia to "acknowledge its responsibility" for the downed Boeing, stop the disinformation campaign and cooperate with the investigation.
“We have stated from the beginning that we will bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice, and for almost 4 years we have been part of the investigation team and will continue to do so in order to achieve justice for the victims and their families who are still grieving the loss of their loved ones,” - Added Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
According to The Hague, the investigation may continue with the transfer of the case to an international court for sentencing.
“Thanks to the outstanding work of the Joint Investigation Team, there is now indisputable evidence of a direct connection between the Buk anti-aircraft missile system that shot down flight MH17, and Russian army", - said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Stef Blok.
Yesterday, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) released the latest findings from the criminal investigation. The Buk air defense system, from which the Malaysian Boeing was shot down near the occupied Torez, arrived from near Kursk - from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade as part of a column of Russian troops.
Like any machine, the Buk anti-aircraft gun had specific features: damage, transport markings, special caterpillar roller, remnants of a painted over number. All this was caught in the photo and video of witnesses of the transportation - first in Russia, then in Ukraine.
Investigators also have fragments of the rocket itself with serial numbers.
New results of the parallel investigation were published today by the expert journalistic group Bellingcat. They identified a militant with the call sign "Orion", involved in the delivery of "Buk" from Russia to the occupied part of Ukraine and back.
“This man was a high-ranking officer at that time in the so-called Luhansk People's Republic. He represented Russia’s military intelligence, the GRU,” says Bellingcat investigator Moritz.
Oleg Vladimirovich Ivannikov, as it turned out, does not just serve in the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. 10 years ago he was the defense minister of the self-proclaimed South Ossetia. And the Lugansk People's Republic led the supply of weapons. Here is his voice on the intercepted telephone conversation:
“They are taking revenge for the planes today, but there are still a couple of days left. We already have a Buk, nah ... th, we will shoot down.
The Kremlin denies all accusations. A missile with this number, they say, was decommissioned and disposed of long ago, our military and weapons are not in Ukraine, and in general, Kyiv is to blame for the disaster.
“In order for us to recognize what is stated there, we must take a full part in the investigation,” Vladimir Putin said.
The Russian authorities are the main accused in the murder of the passengers and crew of the plane. Why is the Putin-Medvedev government not invited to participate in the investigation? For example, so that the Russian special services do not create false evidence, intimidate or kill witnesses.
International investigators are asking for help in collecting information from anyone who knows the circumstances of the actions of the Russian military.
“The Joint Investigation Team will maintain the utmost confidentiality with regard to all information received and all persons who provided it,” said Jennifer Hurst, Chief of the Australian Federal Police.
According to the investigators, all evidence and charges against specific individuals will be announced when the investigation is over. It will take place in the courtroom.
Yaroslav Steshik; a photo - Francois Lenoir/Reuters/Forum
Image copyright EPA Image caption Tiibbe Yustra presents a report on the results of the investigation against the backdrop of a reconstructed Boeing from the wreckage
The Dutch Security Council has presented the results of its own investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing on July 17 last year in eastern Ukraine.
The results of the investigation were presented to the relatives of the victims and journalists by the head of the council, Tiibbe Yustra. They were also shown a plane recreated from the wreckage.
The Dutch authorities set themselves the task of answering four questions:
- What caused the plane to break up at high altitude?
- Why was the plane flying over a war zone?
- Why were some of the relatives informed about the death of their loved ones only four days after the disaster?
- To what extent did the passengers and crew of the aircraft realize what was happening in the last minutes of their lives?
The report did not address the question of who was responsible for the downing of flight MH17, since this issue does not fall within the remit of the security council.
It was Buk
Based on the results of the investigation, the Dutch authorities came to the conclusion that the Malaysian Airlines Boeing was shot down by a Buk missile fired from the territory of eastern Ukraine. Versions about an explosion that occurred on board the aircraft, a rocket fired at the Boeing from the air, and some atmospheric phenomena from which the aircraft could have suffered were refuted.
The cause of the explosion was determined after analysis of the wreckage. For this, a model of an aircraft about 20 meters long was created from the fuselage fragments found in the hangar of the Dutch Hilse-Rayen air base.
Analyzing the nature of the damage to the Boeing, the Security Council came to the conclusion that the rocket exploded to the left of the cockpit at 13 hours, 20 minutes and 03 seconds London time. The missile approached the aircraft "almost on a collision course."
No alarms on board were activated; Both flight recorders stopped recording suddenly. Only the last 20 milliseconds, which recorded "a high-energy sound wave lasting about 2.3 milliseconds," testify to what happened on the recording of the speech recorder.
In the bodies of three crew members, as well as in the wreckage of the aircraft, we managed to find striking elements made of unalloyed steel, typical for the warhead of the Buk missile (model 9N314M).
Image copyright onderzoeksraad.nl Image caption The report contains detailed explanations the damage the aircraft received as a result of the explosionAs the report explains, "a warhead is placed in the warhead of this weapon system, around which submunitions are laid in two layers." In the wreckage of the "Boeing" it was possible to find all three types of striking elements characteristic of the 9N314M model: cubic, cylindrical fragments, as well as elements in the form of a "butterfly".
In addition, it is noted that the missiles fired from the Buk can reach a height of 24.4 kilometers, which is much higher than the height at which the aircraft flew (10.1 km).
The Security Council simulated the situation of defeat and the blast wave that arose after the explosion of the warhead. As a result, it was found that after the explosion, the cockpit and half of the business class cabin came off the plane; they almost immediately fell to the ground. The rest of the fuselage flew for about 8.5 kilometers, gradually falling apart under the influence of powerful air currents. Parts of the aircraft were found in an area of 50 square kilometers.
"About 1 or 1.5 minutes passed from the moment the front section of the aircraft was hit to the fall of all other parts of the aircraft to the ground," the report says.
Flying over the war zone
"MH17 was one of 160 flights in this zone that day. 61 airlines from 32 countries continued to fly over eastern Ukraine. They all thought it was safe. Neither Ukraine nor the air operators were able to correctly assess the risks," Yustra said. presenting the results of the report.
At the same time, civil ships were prohibited from flying at an altitude below 9.7 km (air level FL320). The Malaysian "Boeing" fulfilled this requirement.
Instant loss of consciousness
For the relatives of the victims, one of the main questions was whether the Boeing passengers had time to realize what had happened and whether they were in pain at the time of the plane crash.
Members of the security council concluded that the likelihood of this is extremely low.
“Because the downing of the aircraft was completely unexpected, people were hardly able to comprehend the situation. There was practically no time for a conscious reaction. Those on board were exposed to extreme factors almost instantly,” the report says. “Some of the people on board were immediately seriously injured , which probably led to death. In others, depressurization instantly led to a decrease or loss of consciousness. "