Russia refutes Dutch MH17 report with 'new important evidence'

Moscow, Jan 15: Russia's aviation agency Rosaviatsia said on Thursday that it has found some new facts on the crash of flight MH17 in 2014, refuting the Dutch Safety Board (DSB)'s investigation report published last October on the incident.

The agency posted a letter online sent by its deputy head Oleg Storchevoy to DSB, stating "some new important evidence" that had not been uncovered in the Dutch investigation was found by the Russian side, confirming that some conclusions of the DSB's final report on the crash of MH17 were unsubstantiated and inaccurate.

The new facts could raise doubts about information given in the Dutch report, such as the possible presence of heavy air defense systems in eastern Ukraine that were not controlled by Ukrainian government forces, Xinhua reported.

Rosaviatsia said that it is also necessary to review the conclusion of the Dutch side that the aircraft was hit by a 9M38 missile with a 9N314M-type warhead using the BUK surface-to-air missile system.

The Russian side also questioned the detonation position of the missile when hitting the aircraft, as well as the missile's launching area.

The DSB said last October that the warhead detonated close to the left front of the plane, claiming that additional forensic investigation was needed to determine the location of the launch.

Moreover, Rosaviatsia blamed the Dutch report for ignoring the deliberate concealment and distortion of flight safety information by the Ukrainian side.

IANS