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It Was 'Certainly' Not Russian Missile That Downed MH17 - Putin

There are different versions of the MH17 crash, but nobody takes them into account, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
Sputnik

"There are several versions, including the version that it was a missile of the Ukrainian army, and a warplane, and so on. But I repeat, there is nothing that inspires our confidence as final conclusions, and there will be no such a version without our full participation in the investigation," Putin stressed.

Earlier in the day, the Australian and the Dutch embassies issued statements, in which the countries accused Russian of downing the plane.

On Thursday, head of the Dutch National Police's Central Crime Investigation department Wilbert Paulissen said that the missile was launched by the Buk TELAR belonging to the Russian Armed Forces.

At the same time, Dutch Chief Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke stated that the investigation team would not disclose the evidence allegedly uncovered.

READ MORE: MH17 Case: French Activist Explains Why He Feels Probe is Biased

Back in 2016, the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team already presented the initial results of the criminal investigation into the crash, claiming that the airliner was downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile launcher which was delivered from the "territory of the Russian Federation to Ukraine."

Australia, Netherlands Hold Russia Responsible for MH17 Downing - Embassies
However, Russia's Almaz-Antey company, which developed the Buk missile system, rejected the findings, saying that three simulations showed that the missile was launched from the Zaroshchenske area, which was controlled by the Ukrainian army at the time of the downing.

MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, carrying 298 passengers, all of whom — including the crew — were killed when the plane crashed in Ukraine's region of Donetsk on July 17, 2014. Following the catastrophe, Ukraine delegated the investigation, announced the same year, to the Dutch Safety Board (DSB).

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