Damage to the aircraft
indicated that “a large number of high-energy objects” had
“penetrated the aircraft” the preliminary report from the Dutch
Safety Board said.
The report does not
directly identify what the object was, but Viacheslav Tseluiko, an
expert on non-state armed groups, said that it was clear that it was
a Buk missile that had caused the damage.
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“The aircraft was
damaged from the outside according to the report and basically the
Dutch are saying that the plane was shot down by fragments of a Buk
missile,” he said.
A Buk missile functions by
exploding near its target and showering it with shrapnel.
Prior to the downing of
flight MH17 Russian-supported separatists in eastern Ukraine had
shared images on social media showing that they possessed Buk missile
systems. After the incident those entries were deleted from
their accounts.
The report found no
evidence of human error or technical difficulties that could have
resulted in the downing of the plane.
Malaysia Airlines flight
MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July when it
crashed on territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk
People’s Republic. All 298 people on board were killed. Dutch forensics teams had positively identified 173 of the victims as of Aug. 27.
Because of ongoing
fighting near the crash site the team of international safety investigators were not able to visit it. They relied on
aircraft maintenance records, flight operational data, satellite
imagery, and flight and cockpit recorder data from the aircraft.
The experts received the
flight and cockpit recorders after they were first handed over by the
rebel leadership to Malaysian officials. The experts found no
evidence that the recording were tampered with.
The leadership of the
self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) has consistently
denied shooting down the flight.
“I can only say that we
don’t have the technology that could have shot down the Malaysian
flight,” DNR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko told Russian
newspaper Kommersant in response to the report.
With a fragile ceasefire now in place Ukraine is currently considering sending a new mission to investigate the crash site.
“We could go back to the issue of studying the crash site. The government of Ukraine has assisted and will continue to further assist, within its capabilities, to conduct an investigation. We will do our utmost to make sure that the remains are found and sent to the families,” said Volodymyr Groysman, a deputy prime minister, at a with meeting Defense Minister of Malaysia Hishammuddin Hussein.
The minister, however, admitted that despite the ceasefire, attacks on the ground continue, and it would not be safe to send a Malaysian delegation there. He said that 20 experts from Malaysia will come to Ukraine and will be ready to be dispatched to the crash site once it becomes safer, but will only do it in conjunction with the Netherlands and Australia.
The full report is
expected to be released next year.
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