MH-17 flight downed 3 years ago. How much do we know now?

On 17 July 2014 —  three years ago — Malaysian airlines flight MH-17 was downed over the war-torn Donbas. For many countries, this tragedy was the first serious repercussion of the war raging in Ukraine. Those responsible for the deaths of 298 passengers and crew members were still not found, even though many sides of the investigation suspect connections to Russia. German Correct!v investigation agency was one of the first to study this tragedy in details. According to Correct!iv’s investigation, flight MH-17 was approaching Russian airspace and was shot down around 40 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border. The study confirmed that MH-17 was shot down by a missile, and this missile was fired from the ground, not from Ukrainian fighter jet, as Russia claimed at the moment. The online investigators from Bellingcat have made some of the most valuable inputs into the investigation of this tragedy. Their newest report came out on 17 July 2017, the third anniversary of the downing. In this piece, the investigators summed up all their recent findings. “For six hours before the downing of MH-17, Ukrainians went online to discuss a Buk missile launcher slowly creeping through eastern Ukraine. […] It would eventually reach the location where the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) determined a missile launch occurred on July 17, 2014,” the report reads. "On the next morning after the downing, Buk reached Luhansk. It traveled a roundabout route through through Krasniy Luch, to Debaltseve, and finally to Luhansk, where it was filmed passing along Pavlivska-Nechuya Levytskoho St. The Buk was taken across the Ukraine-Russia border in the early hours of July 18,” it adds. Moreover, Bellingcat’s investigators managed to identify a number of features and details of the Buk missile launcher that downed MH-17. “A particular Buk-M1 TELAR stood out, belonging to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. This Buk left from Kursk, Russia on June 23 and traveled towards the Russia-Ukraine border, with a convoy last seen in Millerovo, Russia on June 25. This Buk, which was first dubbed “Buk 3×2” due to an obscured digit on the side of the chassis, has many similarities with the one seen in Ukraine on July 17,” the report reads. All those suspected of this terrorist act are listed here.

Last year’s report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) supports Bellingcat’s conclusion about the Russian link. Wilbert Paulissen, the head of the Dutch National Detective Force, stressed on 28 September 2016 “there was conclusive evidence that a missile from the Russian-made Buk 9M38 missile system downed the passenger flight on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.” However, the JIT did not name the suspects yet the way Bellingcat did. The investigation is still going on, as Russia continues to deny its involvement despite all the evidence.

Read also: One year later, what do we know about the MH17 tragedy?

So far there are no valid alternative theories, as Russia’s attempt to blame Ukrainian army got blown by Bellingcat. It is still not clear why Ukraine did not close its airspace over the Donbas in July 2017 completely. Tjibbe Joustra, the chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, underlined in 2015 there was sufficient reason to close the airspace as a precaution, but “the Ukrainian authorities failed to do so.” Ukraine’s foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin replied then that the Ukrainian authorities had been unaware that antiaircraft weapons were being used in the area. Moreover, Gennadiy Zubko, Ukraine’s deputy PM, stressed that Ukraine “had been gradually closing all sky corridors of an altitude of 9,750 metres and less.” However, that was not enough, as MH-17 was shot down at at a cruising altitude of 10,100 metres. Clearly, no one thought that civil plains were at risk. There were also judicial matters to solve. On 5 July 2017, Bert Koenders, Dutch foreign minister, emphasized that the JIT countries have now decided that the suspects should be prosecuted in the Netherlands, and this process “will be rooted in ongoing international cooperation and support.” This is important, given that the victims came from 17 different countries on five continents, Koenders says. The US welcomed this decision.

Read also: Ukraine had no reason to close its airspace above 10 000 m before MH17 disaster

There is another problem. It is highly unlikely that Russia will recognize any decision of the trial. In 2015, it did its best to block the very creation of the tribunal. In this case, the trial will be held even with the physical absence of the suspects. Meanwhile, families of the MH-17 continue to demand justice. They have held a protest near the Russian Embassy in the Hague to mark the three-year anniversary of the catastrophe, Hromadske reports. According to news piece by NOS, a memorial park bench in front of the embassy building was installed. In Ukraine, MH-17 catastrophe is still a big deal. Many Ukrainian media mentioned the anniversary and gave updates on the state of the investigation. Ukrainian officials also remembered to honor the victims. For instance, President Poroshenko expressed his hope for the successful trial for those who planned and executed this terrorist act. Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s foreign minister, noted that the investigation is already “halfway there.” “We want to know who pushed the button, who gave the order and what was the ultimate chain of command,” he claimed. So will the investigation be able to find those responsible for the downing of MH-17 plane? Is anyone in Russia’s government connected to this crime? We might receive the answers in early 2018, as Liow Tiong Lai, Malaysia’s transport minister, revealed.

Read also:

• Why did Russia close its airspace near Donbas one day before flight MH17 was downed?
• Ukraine had no reason to close its airspace above 10 000 m before MH17 disaster | Infographic
• MH17: Is Ukraine the one to blame?
• Will there be justice for MH17 victims?
• Russian media forge more papers to blame Ukraine of downing MH17, make bad grammar mistakes
• Flight MH17 three years on: getting the truth out of Eastern Ukraine
• Novaya Gazeta identifies Russian colonel involved in shooting down MH17
• MH17: Crime without punishment
• Moscow may soon blame extraterrestrials for MH17 catastrophe, Russian aviation expert says
• Bellingcat narrows list of possible MH17 culprits from Russian 53rd Brigade to 20 servicemen
• The most comprehensive guide ever to MH17 conspiracies
• Placing MH17 disaster in context, ahead of Dutch report
• Russia’s MH17 narrative: a year of self-incrimination
• Putin’s MH17 nightmare: an international tribunal
• A guide to Russian propaganda: Rapid fire conspiracy theories