About twenty Russian soldiers know which of them fired the BUK-rocket on flight MH17 on July 17, 2014. That is what said Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, in an interview with the Dutch broadcaster NOS. Bellingcat is a platform for investigative journalism based on open sources. According to NOS, Bellingcat followed the soldiers on social media and other public Internet sources.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor has received the findings. These will be “seriously considered, examined and assessed on their suitability for the criminal investigation,” quoted an NOS spokesman. The prosecution is leading the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that carries out the criminal justice investigating the downing of flight MH17.
Bellingcat stated last year that the Russian BUK-missile system which shot down flight MH17 was transported to Ukraine by the Second Battalion of the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade, coming from the area of ??Kursk in Russia. The battalion consisted of about a hundred soldiers, but Bellingcat knew how to reduce the number of soldiers involved to about twenty man, says NOS. One of them is the commander of the 53rd brigade. Because of his position, “he has certainly played a role in the downing of flight MH17 because his brigade has delivered the “weapon” “, Bellingcat is quoted on the NOS site. Also involved are “some very experienced soldiers” who had been trained to operate a BUK-missile system.
The Dutch Safety Board (OVV) concluded last year that Flight MH17 had been shot down with a BUK-rocket and based its conclusion, inter alia, on the metal particles found on the plane and on the bodies of three crew members. OVV-chairman Tjibbe Joustra said that the BUK-missile came from areas where pro-Russian rebels wrested control.
By André Orban, based on reports of NOS and Luchtvaartnieuws
