Twenty Russian servicemen involved in MH17 crash – Bellingcat

The Bellingcat volunteer investigative team narrowed the list of suspects, involved in the MH17 crash.

As Radio Liberty reports with reference to an interview of organization’s founder Elliot Higgins with NOS Dutch TV channel, twenty Russian servicemen are suspected as those who had the most accurate information about the crash circumstances.

According to him, the list includes the commander of the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, coming from Kursk, the commander of the second battalion of this brigade, nine lieutenant-commanders of Buk missile system from this battalion and several “very experienced soldiers” trained enough to operate such an anti-aircraft missile system.

Higgins handed over the detailed report with the names and photos of perpetrators to the Dutch Public Prosecution Office, which leads the international joint investigation team, two weeks ago.

The prosecutor’s office representative confirmed the report had been received and said that it would be carefully studied and assessed for possible attaching to the criminal case.

As a reminder, October 2015, the Dutch Safety Board released the final report of its technical investigation, saying that flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur had been shot down from Buk anti-aircraft missile system over Donbas on July 17, 2014. The report did not mention the people firing the system, resulting in the death of all 298 passengers on board.

The West and Ukraine claim they have evidence that the plane was shot down by the pro-Russian militants from Buk system with the possible support of Moscow. The militants and Russia, in turn, denied any involvement.