Determines That The Missile 'Came From Russia'

The Buk missile that destroyed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 came from Russia, according to a Dutch-led international investigation panel.

The BBC reports that, in a news conference held Wednesday, chief Dutch police investigator Wilbert Paulissen said that 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."

The missile was transported from Russia to the rebel-held area of Ukraine on July 17, according to the report. The team also determined that the missile was launched from a specific field near the village of Pervomaiskyi, which at the time was held by rebel forces.

A spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia cannot accept the findings of the the panel. "We know the devil is in the detail, and we are still missing (a) lot of the detail," he said. Russia says none of its weapons were taken to Ukraine.

However, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the findings provided "solid proof of who is to blame for this dreadful crime." 

Prosecutors played recordings of phone calls that had been intercepted from witnesses who said they had seen the missile launcher being moved from Russia into Ukraine. The launch site was identified by multiple witnesses, the prosecutors said.

However, they also said they could not determine who had given the order to fire the missile.

(Images from Dutch Safety Board YouTube video)

FMI: www.government.nl/topics/mh17-incident