Moscow reacts to UN aviation agencys MH17 vote
The investigation into the shootdown of the passenger airliner in Ukrainian airspace in 2014 was biased against Russia, the Foreign Ministry said
Russia has rejected the UN civilian aviation agency's claims that it was responsible for the 2014 downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine. Moscow insisted that the Dutch-led investigation into the incident was politically motivated and relied on "questionable" evidence submitted by Kiev.
"Moscow's principal position remains that Russia was not involved in the crash of MH17, and that all statements to the contrary by Australia and the Netherlands are false," the Foreign Ministry said on its website on Tuesday.
The statement came after the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) voted that Russia failed to uphold its obligation to "refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight."
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, most of whom were Dutch, Malaysian, and Australian nationals. The incident occurred as Ukrainian troops were attempting to retake the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which voted to secede following the Western-backed coup in Kiev. The two entities later voted to become part of Russia in September 2022.
In 2015, the investigation - conducted by the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine - concluded that the plane was shot down by a Soviet-era Buk surface-to-air missile system delivered by Russia to the Donbass militias. Moscow denied providing heavy weapons to local forces and argued that the aircraft was hit by a version of the missile used by Ukrainian, not Russian, troops. It also criticized its exclusion from the investigation.
The Foreign Ministry condemned the ICAO Council's decision as politically motivated, alleging "multiple procedural violations." It said the ICAO ignored "ample and convincing factual and legal evidence" submitted by Russia to demonstrate its non-involvement in the shootdown.
"The conclusions of the Dutch investigation were based on the testimonies of anonymous witnesses - whose identities were classified - as well as on questionable information and materials submitted by a biased party: the Security Service of Ukraine," the statement read.
The Foreign Ministry added that Ukraine should ultimately be blamed for the tragedy because Kiev "launched a military operation in Donbass under the false pretense of combating terrorism."
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that, because Russia was not part of the investigation, it "does not accept biased conclusions."
(RT.com)
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