MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Malaysia Airlines passenger plane crashed while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over the Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board, mostly Dutch citizens, died in the crash.
Preliminary findings by the DSB, tasked with investigating the incident, said that the plane broke up in mid-air after being hit by several high-energy objects.
Ukraine and its Western allies blame the militia in the country’s east for downing the aircraft. The militia have claimed they do not have weapons capable of bringing down an aircraft flying at such an altitude and blamed Kiev forces for the crash.
Earlier, several Western media published the final report’s leaked fragments, claiming that the responsibility for the crash was laid on Donbass militia and Malaysia Airlines. According to international standards, the draft report’s content should not be disclosed until the release of the final version.
Russia has expressed its disappointment several times that the Dutch investigators did not collaborate with the Russian specialists.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the investigation had several irregularities and those responsible for the investigation left many questions unanswered.
In particular, Malaysia was not invited to participate in the inquiry for half a year, the debris of the plane was not removed from the scene of the crash for a long time and the International Civil Aviation Organization was not invited to participate in the leading role, though it is regular practice, Lavrov said.
In June, Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey, published the results of its inquiry into the crash, showing that the Malaysian plane was downed by a guided missile launched from a Buk-M1 system.
The investigation of Almaz-Antey, the manufacturer of Buk missile systems, confirmed that the plane could not have been shot down from areas controlled by local militias in eastern Ukraine.
The missile system has not been produced in Russia since 1999, but remains in service with the Ukrainian army, according to the manufacturer.
