The Claim:
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recycled accusations about the 2014 downing of a Malaysian Airliner MH17 over Ukraine – falsely claiming that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were responsible. The Tweet/X post further falsely claims that there is evidence of Ukraine’s involvement.
Narrative Context:
The Russian government has denied its involvement in the downing of MH17 and fabricated evidence in the days following to avoid responsibility. That evidence was analyzed and debunked by UK investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat.
The Facts:
A joint investigative team (JIT) was created that included the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. On 24 May 2018 the JIT announced that the Buk missile installation that brought down MH17 belonged to the Russian army.
On November 17, 2022 a Dutch court sentenced three Russian government backed separatists, “Kharchenko, Dubinskiy and Girkin to life imprisonment for causing Flight MH17 to crash and for the murder of the 298 persons on board.”
Furthermore, Russia was found to be in control of militias operating in Eastern Ukraine, including the area where the missile that downed MH17 was shot from.
Investigators also found evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the transfer of the missiles from Russia that were used to shoot down MH17.
