The Russian Defense Ministry has said that neither the Buk missile defense system, nor any other military equipment, has crossed the Russian border into Ukraine.
Such border crossings “can’t be performed in secrecy,”
the official representative for the Russian Defense Ministry told
journalists in Moscow.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) alleged that it has
proof the self-defense forces in eastern Ukraine received a Buk
anti-aircraft missile system with a crew from Russia.
Malaysian flight MH17 “was shot down by a missile from the
Buk-M air defense system, which was transferred from the
territory of Russia,” said Valentin Nalivaychenko, SBU head,
without elaborating on the evidence.
Shortly after the Thursday’s tragedy, Ukrainian president Petro
Poroshenko addressed the nation, saying that what happened to the
Malaysian MH17 flight was “a terrorist act.”
The statement came before Kiev launched an investigation into the
crash to determine what exactly happened to the Malaysian jet.
The Russian Defense Ministry spokesman also denied statements by
the Ukrainian side, which announced the detention of two
“spotters for Buk anti-aircraft missile systems” on its
territory, who were Russian citizens.
“We should clarify that such specialists as spotters are used
only for those weapons systems, which are aimed at engaging
ground-based targets,” he said.
Buk is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air
missile systems developed by the former USSR and Russia to engage
targets at an engagement altitude of 11,000-25,000 meters
depending on the model.
Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry said that a Ukrainian
Buk anti-aircraft missile battery was operational in the area in
the Donetsk Region where the Malaysian plane crashed.
Ukrainian Buk battery radar was operational when
Malaysian plane downed - Moscow
“The Russian equipment detected throughout July 17 the
activity of a Kupol radar, deployed as part of a Buk-M1 battery
near Styla [a village some 30km south of Donetsk],” the
ministry said in a statement.
According to the Russian side, the Ukrainian military has
deployed several Buk batteries, with at least 27 launchers,
capable of bringing down high-flying jets, in the Donetsk Region.
The Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 carrying almost 300 people on
board crashed on Thursday as it was flying over Ukraine’s Donetsk
Region, the scene of heavy fighting between the Ukrainian
military and local self-defense forces.