RFE/RL: Russian officials dig in on MH17, as critics decry 'politics of denial' - Sep. 29, 2016

RFE/RL: Russian officials dig in on MH17, as critics decry ‘politics of denial’

Members of a joint investigation team present the preliminary results of the criminal investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 , in Nieuwegein, on Sept. 28. Last year a separate inquiry led by the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) found the Boeing 777 was hit by a BUK missile fired from an area most likely in rebel-held eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since early 2014.

Photo by AFP

MOSCOW – A series of denials by Russian officials and state-media allegations of bias and foul play present a view that is starkly discrepant with international criminal investigators’ findings, announced this week, over the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) interim conclusions were that the passenger jet was shot down by a Russian-made missile system smuggled into separatist territory then spirited back over the border into Russia.