Russian ambassador to Malaysia debunks Dutch Safety Board findings on MH17

KUALA LUMPUR: Russia has debunked the findings of the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) which concluded that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by BUK missiles, saying the country no longer produces the missile as mentioned in the report.
Its ambassador to Malaysia Valery N Yermolov said the country has decommissioned the missile since 2011.
"The BUK missiles mentioned in the report were developed in 1986 during the war with the Soviet Union army after the declaration of independence and had a warranty period of 25 years.
"In 2011, these missiles were decommissioned by the Russian army, but we know that the Ukrainian (army) owns 520 missiles until now," said Yermolov during a press conference at the Russia embassy yesterday.
According to the investigation report, MH17 was shot by a Russian made 9N314M missile, killing all 298 passengers onboard.
However, Yermolov says that many other former Soviet Union countries might possess such a weapon.
"Many other former Soviet Union countries, including some members of the NATO alliance such as Greece were armed with similar BUK missiles," he said.
Yermalov explained that the current missiles owned by the Russian army does not contain the shrapnel in the shape of butterflies that were found on the fuselage of MH17.
He also lamented that the Russian investigation team were not allowed full access to the investigation materials by the DSB.
Yurmalov also urged Malaysian leaders to stop pointing fingers and focus on finding out the real perpetrators behind the tragedy.
"That is why I was a little bit surprised and disappointed with the leaders of Malaysia saying that the aircraft was downed by the Russian-made BUK missiles," he said.
Yurmalov stressed that Russia will continue to work together with Malaysia and the International Civil Aviation Organisation on the matter.
"Continuing the investigation with the necessary adjustments and ensuring the participation of all countries that possess materials that could shed light on the MH17 crash could be a way out of this situation," he said.