A BUK missile brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 (click here) last year over eastern Ukraine killing all 298 people on board, the official inquiry into the air disaster concluded on Tuesday (Oct 13).
This crash is a human rights issue, not a war issue. It has nothing to do with the standing of the hard achieved movement to peace in Ukraine.
Gilze-Rijen, Netherlands: Air crash investigators concluded on Tuesday (Oct 13) that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a missile fired from rebel-held eastern Ukraine last year, killing all 298 people on board.Even before the highly-anticipated release of the official report on the disaster by a Dutch-led investigation, Russian officials were disputing the findings which are sure to further degrade strained ties between Moscow and the West.
"Flight MH17 crashed as a result of the detonation of a warhead outside the airplane against the left-hand side of the cockpit," the chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, Tjibbe Joustra, told a press conference.
"This warhead fits the kind of missile that is installed in the BUK surface-to-air missile system."
While he insisted investigators had not pinned down the exact location of the missile's launch site, maps shown to reporters clearly showed the area near Donetsk held by pro-Russian separatists.
The long-awaited findings of the board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not specify who launched the missile.
The soldiers in eastern Ukraine were helpful. They helped the people of the Netherlands reclaim their loved ones.
The ability to move about for investigators and reclaim as much of the airliner was not inhibited. The people that came to bring home the wreckage and passengers were allowed to do so. That is all appreciated.
I am sure all involved wish they could turn time back to erase this tragedy out of history. We don't have that luxury.
