Skip to main content
Tags: mh17 | investigation | buk missile | ukraine

MH17 Investigation Blames Buk Missile Fired From Ukraine

MH17 Investigation Blames Buk Missile Fired From Ukraine

Wilbert Paulissen of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) speaks on the preliminary results of the investigation into the shooting-down of Malaysia Airlines jetliner flight MH17 during a press conference in Nieuwegein, Netherlands on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

By    |   Wednesday, 28 September 2016 09:54 AM EDT

The Flight MH17 investigation, which examined the downing of the airliner in Ukraine in 2014, blamed a Buk missile launched from territory held by Russian-backed rebels.

The Joint Investigation Team, led by prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and the Ukraine, had been working to pinpoint what led to the downing of the passenger airliner that killed 298 people midflight while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the BBC News reported.

"Based on the criminal investigation, we have concluded that flight MH17 was downed by a Buk missile of the series 9M83 that came from the territory of the Russian Federation," chief Dutch police investigator Wilbert Paulissen said, according to the BBC News.

Relatives of the flight's victims told the BBC News that prosecutors told them that they would investigate about 100 people possibly connected with the incident.

"They told us how the Buk was transported [and] how they came to that evidence from phone taps, photo, film material, video," Robby Oehler, whose niece was killed in the crash, told the BBC News.

Robert van de Roer, a Dutch diplomatic expert and commentator, told The Guardian that while prosecutors have not been able to identify "the guy who pushed the button" on the Buk missile, they have names of about 20 Russian servicemen from the 53rd brigade in Kursk who could be in a "broad circle of suspects."

The findings of the investigation team were based on satellite data provided by the United States and numerous sightings of the Buk missile as it traveled through rebel-controlled regions, according to The Guardian.

Russia has strongly denied responsibility in MH17's downing, offering its own satellite data Monday to claim the missile did not come from rebel territory. The Russian have suggested that the Ukraine was responsible for targeting the airliner, The Guardian noted.

Russian defense ministry spokesman Major Gen. Igor Konashenkov accused Ukraine of withholding information on the incident, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Buk missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air systems developed by the former Soviet Union, according to The Guardian.

© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


TheWire
The Flight MH17 investigation, which examined the downing of the airliner in Ukraine in 2014, blamed a Buk missile launched from territory held by Russian-backed rebels.
mh17, investigation, buk missile, ukraine
346
2016-54-28
Wednesday, 28 September 2016 09:54 AM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
TOP

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved