The statements made by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) at a news conference on June 19 about the alleged involvement of Russian servicemen in the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash were utterly regrettable. The Russian Federation once again finds itself the target of completely unfounded accusations intended to discredit it in the eyes of the international community.
As was the case at its previous news conferences, the JIT did not produce a single shred of concrete evidence to back up its groundless statements.
The JIT continues to put forward not entirely reasonable arguments, some of which are based on dubious information sources. Meanwhile, the data submitted to the investigation by Russia continues to be willfully ignored.
Moreover, the JIT representatives accuse Russia of withholding full cooperation. We categorically deny such accusations. From the very first day of the tragedy, Russia has been vitally interested in finding the truth and willing to help the investigation in every respect. Russia actively cooperated with the Netherlands and presented all information it had on the MH17 crash. In the process, Russia’s relevant agencies carried out an enormous amount of unprecedented work: from declassifying information on Russian military equipment and conducting a meticulous experiment in collaboration with Almaz-Antei, to providing primary radar data and documents showing that the missile that downed the Malaysian Boeing belonged to Ukraine, as well as precision expert analysis proving that the video clips supporting the JIT’s conclusions were fabricated.
Moreover, Russia has suggested working together from the outset. Instead, international investigators excluded Russia from full participation in the JIT, reducing Russian efforts to a secondary role. Meanwhile, they made Ukraine a full participant in the JIT, giving it an opportunity to falsify evidence and completely evade responsibility for failing to close its air space.
Under the circumstances we continue to raise justified questions about the quality of the JIT’s performance. All this confirms the apprehensions we voiced earlier regarding the biased, one-sided nature of the inquiry.
Nevertheless, the Russian Federation will continue assisting the investigation so that the truth about the MH17 crash is established and the real culprits are duly punished.