You're reading: Bellingcat group publishes satellite images confirming presence of Buk in eastern Ukraine

British investigative journalists group Bellingcat has found confirmation of a convoy of a Buk surface-to-air missile on archived satellite images of Google Earth made on July 17, 2014, on the day when the Boeing 777 plane of Malaysia Airlines en route from Amsterdam to Kuala-Lumpur crashed in the eastern part of Donetsk region.


“Today, Google Earth updated its historical satellite imagery to include Donetsk and Makiyivka at 11:08am (local time) on July 17, 2014, the day of the downing of Flight MH17. Bellingcat has previously purchased portions of this image, with the Digital Globe catalog ID of 105041001104D000, to show that the Russian Ministry of Defense had doctored its MH17 evidence, and to search for the Buk on the H21 highway between Donetsk and Torez. Unfortunately, we did not purchase the segment of the image that showed the Buk and the Volvo truck hauling it, as the convoy took a south-bound detour through Makiyivka before re-entering H21. With the new imagery update, we now have confirmation of the authenticity of a recent dash-cam video showing the Buk and its convoy in Makiyivka,” Bellingcat said on its website on June 22.

A portion of this satellite image was previously published by the U.S.-based private intelligence company Stratfor, which focused on the Buk and the Volvo truck hauling it, the group said.

“The updated Google Earth imagery provides this portion of the satellite image, along with other parts that allow us to further confirm the authenticity of the Makiyivka dash-cam video. The Buk is located at 48.020433, 37.990787 on the image, just south and east of a car wash and tire shop. This location is the same place that the car turned left on in the beginning of the Makiyivka dash-cam video. Behind the convoy, we find a UAZ-469 jeep, a Volkswagen van, and a white SUV. All three of these vehicles can be seen in the satellite image, though the jeep and van are harder to spot. The white SUV, lagging a bit behind the convoy, is the easiest to identify. In the image, the UAZ-469 and VW van are either overtaking the Volvo and Buk, or blocking the left lane in traffic, in line with behavior of these two vehicles in a convoy filmed two days before the MH17 downing along the same road,” the group said, posting images.

“With the updated satellite imagery, there is yet more confirmation that separatist forces transported a Buk from Donetsk to Snizhne in eastern Ukraine on the day of the downing of Flight MH17,” Bellingcat said.

The Boeing 777 plane of Malaysia Airlines en route from Amsterdam to Kuala-Lumpur crashed on July 17, 2014 in the eastern part of Donetsk region near the village of Hrabove. The jet had 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board, all of whom died.

The Dutch Safety Board on October 13, 2015 published a report on the MH17 crash. It says, in particular, that the airliner was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile

.In February 2016 Bellingcat group presented information regarding the Russian brigade that the group believes provided, and possibly operated, the Buk-M1 missile launcher that downed Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. These are 20 soldiers from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk.