“It seems the commission was picking evidence”, Storchevoi told reporters, adding that Russian Federation “categorically disagrees with the report’s conclusions”, state news agency TASS reported.
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According to the DSB report, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 aircraft was shot down by a Russian-manufactured Buk surface-to-air missile.
On the other side, Russian Federation asked the Dutch Safety Board to look for other scenarios, such as the possibility that Flight MH17 was struck by an air-to-air missile, but their scenarios were rejected and considered as baseless. Fragments found in the cockpit carried traces of paint linked to Buk missile warheads. “As a result of the detonation, the forward part of the airplane was torn off”.
“We now know that the plane was hit by a Russian-made BUK missile fired from rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine”, Najib said.
His remarks suggested that the missile complex could not have come from Russian Federation.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte contacted Russian Federation and asked it to cooperate with the investigators to find out those who are actually responsible for the MH17 crash.
Prior to the official publication of the final reports, around 600 relatives were informed about the conclusions of the investigation during a closed information meeting at the World Forum in The Hague, the Netherlands. “And why? Because nobody thought that civil aviation was at risk”.
A truck drives by an Orthodox cross with a sign reading Save and Guard, at a memorial to the victims of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane crash, near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday October. 13, 2015.
The board was sharply critical of the Ukrainian authorities for failing to close the airspace above the conflict zone.
Reconstruction of debris from the crash in the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine showed that the Buk missile detonated less than a metre from the cockpit, killing the flight crew instantly and tearing the nose section off the Boeing 777.
“During the period in which the conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine expanded into the airspace, neither Ukraine nor other states or global organizations issued any specific security warnings to civil aviation about the airspace above the eastern part of Ukraine”, the DSB said.
But it also stated: “It can not be ruled out that a few occupants remained conscious for a few time during the one to one-and-a-half minutes for which the crash lasted”.
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One passenger was found with an oxygen mask around their neck although it is unclear if they had put it on in a reflex or if it was done by someone on the ground after they were killed.
