Dutch Prosecutors to Send New Request to Russia for MH17 Radar Data

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, media reported that Dutch investigators failed to decode information provided by the Russian side in October.

"The radar data was provided in an unusual format. Therefore the Dutch prosecutor will send a supplementary request for legal assistance to the Russian Federation," the spokesman said.

Plane MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, while flying to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. All 298 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft died in the incident. The Ukrainian government forces and the Donbass independence supporters traded accusations regarding the incident, which occurred at the time of heavy fighting in the region.

The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) tasked with probing the crash announced in September that the MH17 airliner was allegedly downed by a Buk missile system, which was brought from Russia and consequently returned there. Furthermore the investigation believes that the missile was launched from the territory controlled by Donbass pro-independence forces. Moscow rejected the findings, calling the report "biased and politically motivated."

The Russian Defense Ministry cast doubt on the conclusions of the investigators, saying that no Russian missile systems, including Buk, have crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border at the time of the incident.