Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has almost exactly established the launch site of a missile that hit a Boeing 777 aircraft of Malaysia Airlines on July 17, the head of the counter-intelligence department at the SBU Vitaliy Naida has said.
“The preliminary materials of the investigation show that the missile
was launched near Snizhne (Donetsk region) which is under control of
terrorists. Preliminary we know the exact place from which the missile
was launched, but we’re not announcing it in the interests of the
investigation. Now we’re taking measures to get to the place and receive
proof, but fighting is underway there,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv
on Saturday, July 19.
Naida said that the missile was launched by Russian military
specialists who were a part of a group of a terrorist named Miner, while
Bes (Ihor Bezler) directed the attack.
“Russia is obliged to present the names of persons who launched the
missile. We demand to give us a chance to examine members of the crew –
the Russian servicemen who launched the missile,” he said.
Naida said that at least three persons were required to launch the missile.
“We know that three Russian servicemen arrived with the system [Buk
M1],” he said, adding that early in the morning on July 18 the system
left the territory of Ukraine via Luhansk region towards Verkhneye
Orekhovo in Russia.
He said that it was registered that two trailers crossed the border,
and one of them had a Buk system with four missiles, while the second
system had three missile, meaning that one missile had been launched.
“We clearly know that the members of the crew were Russian citizens,” he said.
“We know for sure that Russia is trying to hide proof of its
involvement in the terrorist attack in the skies over Ukraine,” Naida
said.
He said that the world community is to demand that Russia answers the
question of how Russia will help in the investigation of the terrorist
attack.
Naida said that SBU is exchanging its evidence base with all
interested parties – in particular, the service is tightly cooperating
with FBI.
He said that the SBU has no doubt that the terrorists know that they
launched the missile, aiming at a plane that was flying at a height of
more than 10,000 meters.
He said that at immediately after the plane crash the terrorists
tried to hide the bodies of the victims and tried to load them on trucks
and took them away.
“But seeing that there were so many of them [bodies] they decided not to do this,” Naida said.
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam (the
Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) crashed in Donetsk region on
July 17. The crash killed 298 people.
