US Claims of Flight MH17 Downing by Militia Remain Unfounded – Russia’s Defense Ministry

RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – The United States has not yet provided any documented evidence to prove that the rocket that brought down the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was launched from militia-controlled territory, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Thursday.

“It was stated that the data of the US technical intelligence and satellite photography confirmed the launch of the rocket from the militia-controlled territory. The question is: where is this data? Why hasn’t it been made available to the public?” Antonov said in an interview to the Rossiya-24 television channel.

Antonov suggested that these facts are “still, so to speak, being manufactured.”

The United States presented Tuesday the information it had to support its claims that the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which killed 298 people last week, was a result of a shooting down by independence supporters in the region.

US officials said they were not sure who was behind the crash, saying independence supporters could have downed the airliner “by mistake.” The officials said they relied in their conclusions partly on social media information and video recordings distributed by Ukrainian authorities.

Ukrainian government and militia have been trading blame for the alleged downing of the airliner ever since reports suggested foul play, with independence supporters saying they lacked the required technology to shoot a moving target at the given altitude.