New information about the crash of the Malaysian Boeing in Donbass in July 2014 emerged today. And it absolutely contradicts the theory, which Western experts for three years have been unsuccessfully trying to prop up.
The TV-channel Zvezda interviewed a former Major of the Ukrainian army. He served near Kharkiv in the anti-aircraft missile troops and received operational information about the situation in the sky, including over the southeast.
Our correspondent Andrey Medvedev on what the Major saw and found out on the day when the Boeing crashed.
In 2014 Yuriy Baturin, retired Major of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, served as commander of the command center in military unit number A-1215 of the anti-aircraft missile troops. This unit is located near Kharkov. On the day of the tragedy of the MH17 flight Baturin was on duty, he saw the mark of the civilian flight on the radar screen and saw how the Boeing changed course and echelon at the direction of the civilian flight dispatcher.
Yuriy Baturin: "The flight zone was not closed at that time. Civilian and military planes were flying there without any restrictions. And the fact that the Boeing somehow changed the air-route upon the recommendation of the civilian flight dispatcher really did take place. And I, like any person who had the opportunity to look at the indicator, watched it personally".
MH17 changed course a few minutes after the dispatcher's order. Then the Boeing disappeared from the radar screen.
Yuriy Baturin: "It all adds up to 2 options. Either the plane was shot down from the ground by an anti-aircraft guided missile or the aircraft crashed due to a technical problem".
A few days later, a column of tow trucks arrived at Baturin's command post. The military relocated the equipment of the 156th anti-aircraft missile regiment to the area of the village of Zaroshchenskoye. He talked to the soldiers and realized that somewhere in this area there was a Buk missile system. It was in the place where the Malaysian flight disappeared from the radar.
It is worth remembering how the situation developed. So, the Boeing 777 of "Malaysian Airlines", flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, over the Donetsk region. The Western media, literally in the first hours, reported that the plane was shot down by militiamen and the Buk missile system was allegedly transferred to the Donetsk region all the way from Russia.
And this version was put forward not only by journalists. Western politicians spoke about it without restraint. However, three years later, they try not to remember this and in general, the West is struggling to remove the investigation of the tragedy of MH17 from the information field.
The question arises — why so? And where is the data provided by the Russian side that Russian dispatchers had noted the activity of Ukrainian radar stations in the crash area which confirms the presence of Ukrainian air defense systems? Why didn't Kiev publish any information about the location of its Buk missile systems on the day of the MH17 catastrophe or the transcripts of dispatchers who gave the command to change the course?
And it is worth recalling that the concern Almaz-Antey which produces the Buk systems conducted three experiments. Experts modeled the missile's direct hit into the plane taking into account the damage on the Boeing's hull. And, according to the experts, the missile, most likely, was launched right from the area near Zaroshchenskoye. Just from there, where, according to Yuri Baturin, soldiers of the 156th regiment brought the Buk.
Yuriy Baturin: "They've shot down the Boeing, everyone is walking around, discussing. Then these comrades come. A column of MAZ trucks with platforms. They were dumb contract soldiers. You go with them in the evening asking: "Guys, how's it going, what did you bring? Where were you, what did you see, what did you hear?" "Well, we just transported a Buk. "Where?" "That way." "Wow, interesting".
The story of the retired Major is indirect evidence of an already existing version of Ukraine's guilt. The weight of the evidence is high. Of course, it is possible to double-check the information about the movement of the column. He was not the only person at the command post. Where there's a will, there's a way to conduct an investigation. There are enough facts. Neither Ukraine nor European countries involved in the investigation want to do this. As if they know something dangerous that they're afraid to reveal.
Andrey Medvedev, Vesti
