MH17 downed by missile from Kiev-controlled area

Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey presents the results of its own report into the missile launch that downed the MH17 Malaysian Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine.

The investigation results confirm that MH17 was taken down from an area under control of the Ukrainian forces. "Today we can say for sure that if the Boeing was downed with a Buk missile, then it was with a 9M38 from the populated area of Zaroschenskoye," Mikhail Malyshevsky, adviser to head engineer of the Buk missile system producer Almaz-Antey, said Tuesday during a briefing in Moscow.

The last missile of this type was produced in the Soviet Union in 1986 and Russia decommissioned its remaining 9M38s in 2011, as the expiration period of this missile is 25 years, including all possible prolongations.

Almaz-Antey used Il-86 airliners and a 9M38M1 missile in its experiment into the MH17 downing, Almaz-Amtey CEO Yan Novikov said.

“The concern made the decision to conduct a second full-fledged actual experiment. Since there were no decommissioned Boeing-777s, an Il-86 was used in the experiment, whose fuselage is similar to the parameters of the Boeing-777. The experiment was held on October 7 and a 9M38M1 missile was used,” he told journalists.

Almaz-Antey’s investigation into the MH17 crash over eastern Ukraine last year “completely contradicts” the results of the Dutch commission in regard to the type of missile used to down the aircraft, Novikov said.

“The results of the experiment completely contradict the results of the Dutch commission on the type of missile and the location of its launch,” he told journalists.

“The huge volume of accumulated data, and here we only have a very small amount, we are ready to hand over to both an international committee on the investigation of the catastrophe or to a European court that will review our case,” Novikov added.

The report is presented Tuesday in Moscow by Almaz-Antey CEO Yan Novikov and adviser to head engineer Mikhail Malyshevsky.

The same day the Dutch Safety Board is expected to issue the results of its investigation into the incident.

The Boeing 777 was en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam when it was downed in the skies over eastern Ukraine on July 17 last year. All 298 people on board, including 80 children and 15 crew members were killed.

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