Dutch Investigators Confirm Malaysian Airlines MH17 Hit by Russian Missile

Dutch investigators officially confirmed on Tuesday that a Russian made BUK missile was the cause of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crash that happened last year in Eastern Ukraine killing all 298 people on board.

According to the Dutch Safety Board report, the missile was fired from a rebel held area in Eastern Ukraine that struck the airplane near the cockpit breaking off the front of the plane. The two pilots and a crewmember died instantly after the missile hit the plane. It’s speculated that most of the passengers probably died before the plane hit the ground because of the mid-air attack. The passengers that were alive may not have been fully aware of what was happening amid the oxygen-starved chaos, according to the report.

The Dutch Safety Board Chairman, Tjibbe Joustra, announced the report findings. He also made it a point to iterate that they do not specifically know who fired the missile. The Dutch investigators also released an animation that shows what happened during the final moments of the doomed flight.

The investigators concluded that the missile had exploded about a yard from the cockpit and that the airplane crashed down over Eastern Ukraine. An area where guerilla fighting was going on between the government and Russia-backed rebels.

Joustra stated that the Ukrainian government should have closed down its airspace due to the ongoing conflict with the rebels. “None of the parties involved recognized the risk from the armed conflict on the ground,” he said.

Since last July, western officials have claimed that that the Boeing 777 that was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was downed because of a Russian surface-to-air missile. However, Russian officials have long denied involvement in the crash.

According to Ukraine government, the missile was fired from Snizhne, which is an area that is control by Russian separatists. The Dutch report says that the missile was fired from an area of about 320 sq km from the site, but did not specify the exact site.

Meanwhile, the Russian firm, Almaz-Antey, that manufactures BUK missiles denied the findings of the report. The state-controlled missile manufacturer stated that it had conducted its own investigation on the crash and the findings were contrary to those of the Dutch investigators.

Yan Novikov, head of Almaz-Antey, had stated before the release of the Dutch findings that their investigation had found no evidence to the claim that the missile was fired from Snizhne. He further said that if the BUK missile had hit the plane, it must have been fired from the village of Zaroshenske that was under the control of Ukrainian government control at the time of the crash.

The debate about who shot the Malaysian Aircraft, MH17, on the sad day in July last year is ongoing. There is still no conclusive evidence about which party – government or the rebels – shot the plane and also the area from where the missile was launched. But the findings of the Dutch Safety Board is an important milestone in an effort to hold accountable those who were responsible for the killing of 298 innocent civilians on board the aircraft.