Russian evidence on MH17 crash ignored – Peskov

A number of facts presented by Russia regarding last year’s crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine are being ignored, Vladimir Putin's spokesman said, a day ahead of the Dutch Safety Board presenting its final technical report on the catastrophe.

“There are facts delivered by the Russian side that for unclear reasons are being apparently ignored,” the Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists.

Peskov said that the Russian side has “repeatedly expressed its disappointment over the lack of proper level of cooperation and engagement of the Russian experts into the investigation.”

The spokesperson noted that certain leaks from the report that emerged earlier could not be verified and proved authentic.

Peskov called on the media to wait for the official report’s release and promised that the document is going to be “most thoroughly examined” by Russian experts.

According to a report in the Malaysian media, Russia’s Roasaviation flight authority handed over to the Netherlands some “serious remarks” in response to the abstract of the final report on the reasons for the MH17 crash on July 17, 2014, which killed all 298 passengers and crew members onboard.

Malaysian newspaper New Straits Time cited the deputy head of Roasaviation, Oleg Storchevoy, who wrote a letter to the International Civil Aviation Association (ICAA), accusing the Dutch-led joint investigation group of ignoring “comprehensive information delivered by Russia.”

In particular, Moscow emphasized concern over the Dutch Safety Board ignoring a “basic principle of investigating air incidents – sequence of conclusions.”

According to Storchevoy, instead of examining the damage caused to the crashed Boeing’s nose and fuselage and then making logical interpretations, the Dutch investigative group “immediately jumped to conclusions and blamed a BUK missile complex of shooting down the MH17 flight,” also positioning it in accordance with the initial reports, without explaining how the BUK’s alleged position was calculated.

On top of all, conclusions were made even before the characteristics of the striking elements that hit the crashed Boeing were established, Storchevoy noted.

The Dutch Safety Board is preparing to present the final report on the MH17 catastrophe on Tuesday, October 13.

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