MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko —On Wednesday, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to create a tribunal to investigate last year’s MH17 plane crash in eastern Ukraine, which triggered a wave of criticism and accusations from the West against Moscow.
Provocation Since the Beginning
“I believe that the idea of this tribunal was focused exactly on that outcome [storm of abuse from the West]. Because Russia had to veto it, and everybody knew that in advance, and so it’s another step to put Russia in the ‘bad guys’ corner. It should be taken as a provocation,” Peter Haisenko, who worked as first officer and captain for Lufthansa for 30 years, told Sputnik.
Angola, Venezuela and China abstained from the vote.
After the vote, Russian envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin reiterated Russia’s readiness to continue assisting a thorough and objective investigation into the causes and circumstances of the crash.
Tribunal Would Be Biased Against Russia
“There have been cases of civilian aircraft being shot down by military actions in history, and a UN tribunal into these cases never happened before. So, why should it happen this time, when the tribunal has a great chance of being biased against Russia?” Haisenko told Sputnik.
The draft resolution to create the tribunal was initiated by Malaysia. The document was backed by Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ukraine. Kiev repeatedly called on the UN Security Council to approve the proposal.
Truth Known, Kept in Secret Deliberately
The truth about the details of the MH17 tragedy is already known, but it is deliberately being kept secret deliberately and is unlikely to be ever revealed publicly, Haisenko, who has made a close investigation into the downing of the airliner himself, told Sputnik.
“My personal opinion is that this investigation is finished already since a long time ago. The truth must be known already. The truth cannot be published because Kiev has a veto right on the publication of the outcome of this investigation,” Haisenko said.
On July 21, the Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration, Olena Zerkal, said at a briefing that the results of the official international investigation into the MH17 Malaysia Airlines plane crash would be classified.
However, the whole situation surrounding the tragedy has already become so politicized that the retired pilot doubts common people will ever get to learn the truth about it.
Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur came down in conflict-torn eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board. Local militias and Kiev forces have blamed each other for downing the plane.
In June, Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey unveiled the results of its own inquiry into the crash, suggesting that flight MH17 was downed by a guided missile launched by a Buk-M1 system, currently in use in the Ukrainian army.
