Where were you on 17 July 2014? On this day a Malaysian Airlines flight, which had taken off from Amsterdam bound for Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over Eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew, among them 80 children. To many, this tragic event became a watershed: the conflict in Eastern Ukraine ceased to be a regional problem and moved much closer to the life of a larger, global international community.
Very detailed evidence
Now, almost three years after, very detailed evidence has been gathered about the event. The governments of the states who lost most citizens in the catastrophe have set up a Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which has concluded that the plane was shot down by a BUK missile located in an area controlled by the Russia-supported rebels. Independent open source journalistic investigation has traced the missile launcher and the people who operated it from Russia into Ukraine and back again into Russia, and the Joint Investigation Team has agreed with these conclusions. With the anniversary approaching later this month, the states which are members of the Joint Investigation Team have collectively decided that the prosecution of suspects in the downing of flight MH17 can take place in the Netherlands. Read also: MH17: Crime without punishment
Pro-Kremlin media aim at creating confusion
But in the world of pro-Kremlin media, things are different. Since the day of the attack, these outlets have, perhaps more eagerly and systematically than in regards to any other issue, fabricated and disseminated a series of alternative stories with the clear aim of muddying the waters and creating the false impression that there is no clarity. The pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign in regards to the downing of flight MH17 is a textbook example of the important point that these kinds of campaigns rarely aim at, making us believe in one particular truth. No, the aim has been and remains to confuse us, to promote the false belief that no clarity has been achieved and that we will probably never learn what really happened. Read also: Russia’s MH17 narrative: a year of self-incriminationThe long list of pro-Kremlin disinformation about MH17
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Journalists seek the truth in Eastern Ukraine
As common sense has it, the first casualty of war is truth. We have certainly come to expect lies to be a part of the picture, perhaps even shameless lying about who killed innocent civilians on board a plane above the battle field, as well as lies about the EU funding concentration camps and about crucified children. More than ever, it becomes clear that, easy as it is to make up and spread disinformation, so is it demanding to get the truth out of the war zone in Eastern Ukraine. Without the work of investigative journalist communities and reporters on the ground, disinformation risks succeeding in its efforts to make us believe that we will never learn the truth. Read also: Novaya Gazeta identifies Russian colonel involved in shooting down MH17This article was originally published on euvsdisinfo.eu.
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