[346] Later it was disclosed, that the photo had been initially emailed to the vice-president of the Russian Union of Engineers by a self-described aviation expert who had found it on a Russian online forum. [333], Conversely, the liberal Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta shortly after the crash published a headline in Dutch that read "Vergeef ons, Nederland" ("Forgive Us, Netherlands"). [3]:44[133] The voice recorder was damaged but there was no evidence that data had been tampered with. The crew asked to remain at FL 330 and the air traffic controller approved this request, moving the other flight to FL 350. The man, who was an asylum-seeker from Ukraine, did not witness the crash and his speech, texted to him by Omtzigt prior to the interview, repeated the Russian-promoted version that Ukrainian jets downed the Boeing. [168] Russian news agency TASS also reported eyewitness accounts claiming that the Donbas militia had just shot down a Ukrainian An-26 military aircraft with a missile. [74] Some of the wreckage fell close to houses. [347] The aviation expert later apologised, saying that he was unhappy with how the information had been used. [48] American officials later said evidence suggested the aircraft had been shot down from Russian territory. [233][234] UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the United Kingdom "fully supports Australia and the Netherlands," calling on Russia to cooperate. Narrowing down a specific launch site was outside the DSB's mandate. [5] The shoot-down occurred during the war in Donbas over an area controlled by Russian separatist forces. Su-25 na boeing stlet nemohl, nevylet tak vysoko", "MH17 German investigative team's fact-check", "General designer of Su-25 says aircraft couldn't have shot down MH17", " "" MH17: ", ", . The Ukrainian authorities imposed restrictions for flights under 32,000 feet (9,800 m), but did not consider closing the airspace to civil aviation completely. This treaty was signed on 7 July 2017,[246] and went into force on 28 August 2018. [384], According to the Russian military, in what New York magazine called "Russia's Conspiracy Theory", MH17 was shot down by the Ukrainians, using either a surface-to-air missile or a fighter aircraft. [297] An increase in negative emotions and somatic complaints was observed in the Dutch population during the first four days after the MH17 crash. [63] Russian air traffic controllers issued a notice effective 17 July at 00:00 with two conflicting altitude restrictions in the airspace in the adjacent area over Russia below 32,000 feet (9,800m) and below 53,000 feet (16,000m). [289] The Malaysian government flew the national flag at half-mast from 18 July until 21 July. [60], In April, the International Civil Aviation Organization had warned governments that there was a risk to commercial passenger flights over south-eastern Ukraine. [2][125] According to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the country in which an aviation incident occurs is responsible for the investigation, but that country may delegate the investigation to another state; Ukraine has delegated the leadership of both investigations to the Netherlands. JIT stated it had always carefully analysed information provided by Russia, but information presented to the public was inaccurate on several points. [200], On 22 December 2014, the Dutch news service RTL Nieuws published a statement from an unnamed local resident who said he had witnessed the shooting down of MH17, which he said was shot down by a missile from rebel territory. [94] In late July, the UK Metropolitan Police sent specialist officers to Ukraine to assist with the recovery, identification and repatriation of bodies. [3]:150152 During that period of time, the left engine intake ring had also fallen off the engine and fell in the same place as where some of these pieces fell. [3]:185, On 17 July, an Associated Press journalist saw a Buk launcher in Snizhne, in Donetsk Oblast, 16 kilometres (10mi) southeast of the crash site. He said that he was not involved in the shoot-down, and that he considered the government of Ukraine to be responsible for the loss of life, because "only a moron or a criminal would send an airliner into a zone of active hostilities". [125] It also found the Buk missile system used had been transported from Russia into Ukraine on the day of the crash, and then back into Russia after the crash, with one missile less than it arrived with. [349][350], The claim that the Su-25 downed the Boeing was part of a strategic narrative that "Ukraine is responsible" and it used altered data as its key deception mechanism. [241], In June 2015, the Netherlands, supported by the other JIT members, sought to create an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of downing the Malaysian airliner, which would take up the case after the closing of the criminal investigation. [59] The battle around Savur-Mohyla has been suggested as the possible context within which the missile that brought down MH17 was fired, as separatists deployed increasingly sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry in this battle, and had brought down several Ukrainian jets in July. [314] The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2166 on 21 July, regarding an official crime investigation into the incident. [115], On 23 July 2014, two Ukrainian military jets were hit by missiles at the altitude of 17,000 feet (5,200m) close to the area of the MH17 crash. [49][155][156][157][158][159] Such systems, unless they receive information from larger networks, have limited capacity to distinguish between military and civilian aircraft. [91], It was reported on 21 July that with 282 bodies and 87 body fragments found, there were still 16 bodies missing. [165][166][167] This news was repeated by channels in Russia, with LifeNews reporting "a new victory of Donetsk self-defence who shot down yet another Ukrainian airplane". [59] The SBU released another recording, which they said was of pro-Russian-separatist leader Igor Bezler being told of an approaching aircraft two minutes before MH17 was shot down. The reason given for the notice was "armed conflict in Ukraine". 
[321] Newcastle United FC paid tribute to John and Liam with the clubs manager, Alan Pardew saying; "Sometimes when you lose lives in that manner, it puts into context what we do, This season we want to give their families something to remember them by, by having a successful season. [193][194] The Attorney General of Germany opened an investigation against unknown persons due to a suspected war crime. [72], According to the original flight plan, MH17 was to fly over Ukraine at flight level 330 (33,000feet or 10,060metres) and then change to FL 350 around the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk. At 16:00 local time (13:00UTC), the crew asked for a deviation of 20 nautical miles (37km) to the left (north) off course, on airway L980, due to weather conditions. "[83], On 6 August the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the recovery operation would be temporarily halted due to an upsurge in fighting around the crash site threatening the safety of crash investigators and recovery specialists, and that all international investigators and humanitarian forces conducting searches would leave the country leaving behind a small communications and liaison team. [374][375] According to Bellingcat, Russia's satellite images were from June and showed signs of editing. [167], Witnesses in Torez reported sightings on the day of the incident of what appeared to be a Buk missile launcher,[173] and AP journalists reported sightings of a Buk system in separatist controlled Snizhne. [71], On Thursday, 17 July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 departed from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Gate G3 at 12:13CEST (10:13UTC)[3]:23 and took off at 12:31 local time (10:31 UTC). [301] Abbott also said in an interview on 13 October 2014, in anticipation of Russia's President Vladimir Putin's attendance at the 2014 G20 summit, scheduled for mid-November 2014 in Brisbane, Australia: "Australians were murdered. [394], The shootdown of MH17 is featured in the fourth episode of eighteenth season of the Canadian documentary television programme Mayday, in the episode titled "Deadly Airspace". [163] Ballistics specialist Stephan Fruhling of the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre concurred with this, explaining that since it struck the cockpit rather than an engine it was probably a radar guided, rather than heat seeking, missile equipped with a proximity fuzed warhead such as an SA-11. "[237] The US Department of State issued a statement saying that the United States "strongly support the decisions by the Netherlands and Australia," requesting Russia to acknowledge its involvement and to "cease its callous disinformation campaign. [3]:5455, 76, The positions of the aircraft wreckage suggest that the plane might have been upside down when the rear and middle sections disintegrated, and the middle portion probably crashed inverted while travelling rearward. Long-distance flights typically travel at altitudes of 33,000 to 44,000 feet,[64] so the second restriction would effectively close that airspace to civilian overflights, but the second restriction was not noted by the automated systems of Malaysian Airlines and the route was not changed. [117] The Russian government proposed an alternative draft resolution, which would not have set up a tribunal. [3]:224[212] The DSB judged that the Ukrainian authorities should have closed the airspace above eastern Ukraine prior to the incident due to the ongoing conflict and earlier military shootdowns,[3]:10[213] but noted that states involved in armed conflicts rarely did so. [217] Early in the investigation, the JIT eliminated accident, internal terrorist attack or air-to-air attack from another aircraft as the cause of the crash. About 90 minutes after the incident, Ukraine closed all routes in Eastern Ukrainian airspace, at all altitudes. Only 3% of respondents blamed the disaster on the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. [130] During the first two days of investigation, the militants prevented the OSCE and the workers of Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry from freely working at the crash site. By the day after the crash, 181 of the 298 bodies had been found. [102][103] Australian officials had believed that as many as 80 bodies were still at the site,[104] but after some days of searching the international team had "found remains of only a few victims" and concluded that "the recovery effort undertaken by local authorities immediately after the crash was more thorough than initially thought. In one recording, of a conversation a few hours after the aircraft was shot down, a fighter says that a member of the Buk's accompanying crew had been left behind at a checkpoint. [221] The video included some previously undisclosed recordings allegedly of tapped phone conversations between rebel fighters about the Buk. According to Ukrainian counterterrorism chief, Vitaly Nayda, after downing the airliner under separatist direction, the launcher's Russian crew quickly moved it back across the border into Russia. [13][14] The Russian government denied involvement in the shooting down of the airplane,[9][15][16] and its account of how the aircraft was shot down has varied over time. [306], United States President Barack Obama said the United States would help determine the cause. ", "Rusk blam. [148], In August 2015, possible Buk missile launcher parts were found at the crash site by the Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT). As the result of the disintegration, the debris of the plane landed in six different areas. [3]:45, The National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine, which led investigations, both off- and on-site, during the first days after the crash,[134] had by August 2014 delegated the investigation to the DSB because of the large number of Dutch passengers and the flight having originated in Amsterdam. [257] On 7 September 2019, Volodymyr Tsemakh was released during a Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange. [3]:152 At the same time, the two wing tips had fallen off from the wings of the aircraft. [61][62] 37 airlines continued overflying eastern Ukraine and about 900 flights crossed the Donetsk region in the seven days before the Boeing 777 was shot down. [319] In Malaysia, makeshift memorials were created in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. [75] Dozens of bodies fell into crop fields, and some fell into houses. "[117] Russia later circulated a rival resolution which criticised the international investigation's lack of "due transparency" and demanded those responsible be brought to justice, but which did not call for a tribunal. [4] Contact with the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was lost when it was about 50km (31mi) from the UkraineRussia border, and wreckage from the aircraft fell near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40km (25mi) from the border. [231], On 25 May 2018 the governments of the Netherlands and Australia issued a joint statement in which they laid responsibility on Russia "for its part" in the crash.
In an article, The Insider website commented on Russia's motives in requesting the exchange of a Ukrainian citizen. [371] Ukrainska Pravda questioned claims about the Ukrainian anti-aircraft unit and stated that Zaroshchenske was under control of pro-Russian forces on the day of the shoot-down. [260] On 14 November 2019 the JIT published a new witnesses appeal and simultaneously released a number of recorded conversations of rebel leaders. [17][19] According to Bellingcat, these changes have usually been in response to new evidence published by DSB and the investigation team. [81][82][83] Other media complained that credit and debit cards were being looted,[84] and there were accusations that evidence at the crash site had been destroyed. At 16:19 local time (13:19 UTC), Dnipro Control noticed that the flight was 3.6 nautical miles (6.7km) north of the centreline of its approved airway and instructed MH17 to return to the track. [12] On the basis of the JIT's conclusions, the governments of the Netherlands and Australia held Russia responsible for the deployment of the Buk installation and were pursuing legal routes as of May2018[update]. [185] American intelligence agencies said that analysis of the launch plume and trajectory suggested the missile was fired from an area near Torez and Snizhne. [13] The Netherlands and Australian foreign ministers stated that they would hold Russia legally responsible for shooting the airliner down. After obtaining permission, Dnipro Control attempted to contact MH17 for handing them off to RND Control at 16:20 local time (13:20UTC), but the aircraft did not respond. [3]:30 The 84th Boeing 777 produced, it first flew on 17 July 1997, exactly 17 years before the incident, and was delivered new to Malaysia Airlines on 29 July 1997. [112][113] In association with the retirement of the Boeing 777 aircraft type from Malaysia Airlines' fleet, Malaysia Airlines ended its service to Amsterdam on 25 January 2016, opting to codeshare with KLM on the KUL-AMS route for the services instead. [331] Mostly posted in Russian, the tweets initially said the rebels had shot down a Ukrainian airplane, but quickly switched to accusing Ukraine of carrying out the attack. 17", "Russian officials reveal their witness in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 case", " "" MH-17: ", " "" (! Bellingcat described him as an important eye-witness to the events surrounding the downing of flight MH17. [105], On 22 August the bodies of 20 Malaysians (of 43 killed in the incident) arrived in Malaysia. [327][328][329] Researchers said views were influenced by the televisual infosphere. [65][66], The airspace above Donetsk was managed by Ukraine. [138] The United Kingdom sent six investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and the UK Foreign Office sent extra consular staff to Ukraine. [281] In May 2016 families of 33 victims of the crash filed a claim against Russia and president Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights, arguing Russian actions violated the passengers' right to life. [256] On 4 September 2019, an appeals court in Kyiv ruled to release Tsemakh. [3]:183 The militia reportedly claimed via social media that a Buk missile launcher, which they had previously seized and made operational, had been used to bring down the aircraft. The memorial includes 298 trees, one tree for each victim. [315], After the crash, memorial services were held in Australia[316] and in the Netherlands, which declared 23 July, the day when the first victims arrived in the country, a national day of mourning, the first since 1962. [189], On 8 September 2014, the BBC released new material by John Sweeney who cited three civilian witnesses from Donbas who saw the Buk launcher in the rebel-controlled territory on the day when MH17 crashed. [395] It is also a major event in Maryna Er Gorbach's film Klondike. He had taken photographs which he had passed to the SBU. At the time, Buk was the only surface-to-air missile system known to be deployed in the region that was capable of reaching the cruising altitude of commercial air traffic. [245] A treaty between the Netherlands and Ukraine made it possible for the Netherlands to prosecute in the cases of all 298 victims, regardless of their nationality.
[321] Newcastle United FC paid tribute to John and Liam with the clubs manager, Alan Pardew saying; "Sometimes when you lose lives in that manner, it puts into context what we do, This season we want to give their families something to remember them by, by having a successful season. [193][194] The Attorney General of Germany opened an investigation against unknown persons due to a suspected war crime. [72], According to the original flight plan, MH17 was to fly over Ukraine at flight level 330 (33,000feet or 10,060metres) and then change to FL 350 around the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk. At 16:00 local time (13:00UTC), the crew asked for a deviation of 20 nautical miles (37km) to the left (north) off course, on airway L980, due to weather conditions. "[83], On 6 August the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the recovery operation would be temporarily halted due to an upsurge in fighting around the crash site threatening the safety of crash investigators and recovery specialists, and that all international investigators and humanitarian forces conducting searches would leave the country leaving behind a small communications and liaison team. [374][375] According to Bellingcat, Russia's satellite images were from June and showed signs of editing. [167], Witnesses in Torez reported sightings on the day of the incident of what appeared to be a Buk missile launcher,[173] and AP journalists reported sightings of a Buk system in separatist controlled Snizhne. [71], On Thursday, 17 July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 departed from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Gate G3 at 12:13CEST (10:13UTC)[3]:23 and took off at 12:31 local time (10:31 UTC). [301] Abbott also said in an interview on 13 October 2014, in anticipation of Russia's President Vladimir Putin's attendance at the 2014 G20 summit, scheduled for mid-November 2014 in Brisbane, Australia: "Australians were murdered. [394], The shootdown of MH17 is featured in the fourth episode of eighteenth season of the Canadian documentary television programme Mayday, in the episode titled "Deadly Airspace". [163] Ballistics specialist Stephan Fruhling of the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre concurred with this, explaining that since it struck the cockpit rather than an engine it was probably a radar guided, rather than heat seeking, missile equipped with a proximity fuzed warhead such as an SA-11. "[237] The US Department of State issued a statement saying that the United States "strongly support the decisions by the Netherlands and Australia," requesting Russia to acknowledge its involvement and to "cease its callous disinformation campaign. [3]:5455, 76, The positions of the aircraft wreckage suggest that the plane might have been upside down when the rear and middle sections disintegrated, and the middle portion probably crashed inverted while travelling rearward. Long-distance flights typically travel at altitudes of 33,000 to 44,000 feet,[64] so the second restriction would effectively close that airspace to civilian overflights, but the second restriction was not noted by the automated systems of Malaysian Airlines and the route was not changed. [117] The Russian government proposed an alternative draft resolution, which would not have set up a tribunal. [3]:224[212] The DSB judged that the Ukrainian authorities should have closed the airspace above eastern Ukraine prior to the incident due to the ongoing conflict and earlier military shootdowns,[3]:10[213] but noted that states involved in armed conflicts rarely did so. [217] Early in the investigation, the JIT eliminated accident, internal terrorist attack or air-to-air attack from another aircraft as the cause of the crash. About 90 minutes after the incident, Ukraine closed all routes in Eastern Ukrainian airspace, at all altitudes. Only 3% of respondents blamed the disaster on the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. [130] During the first two days of investigation, the militants prevented the OSCE and the workers of Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry from freely working at the crash site. By the day after the crash, 181 of the 298 bodies had been found. [102][103] Australian officials had believed that as many as 80 bodies were still at the site,[104] but after some days of searching the international team had "found remains of only a few victims" and concluded that "the recovery effort undertaken by local authorities immediately after the crash was more thorough than initially thought. In one recording, of a conversation a few hours after the aircraft was shot down, a fighter says that a member of the Buk's accompanying crew had been left behind at a checkpoint. [221] The video included some previously undisclosed recordings allegedly of tapped phone conversations between rebel fighters about the Buk. According to Ukrainian counterterrorism chief, Vitaly Nayda, after downing the airliner under separatist direction, the launcher's Russian crew quickly moved it back across the border into Russia. [13][14] The Russian government denied involvement in the shooting down of the airplane,[9][15][16] and its account of how the aircraft was shot down has varied over time. [306], United States President Barack Obama said the United States would help determine the cause. ", "Rusk blam. [148], In August 2015, possible Buk missile launcher parts were found at the crash site by the Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT). As the result of the disintegration, the debris of the plane landed in six different areas. [3]:45, The National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine, which led investigations, both off- and on-site, during the first days after the crash,[134] had by August 2014 delegated the investigation to the DSB because of the large number of Dutch passengers and the flight having originated in Amsterdam. [257] On 7 September 2019, Volodymyr Tsemakh was released during a Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange. [3]:152 At the same time, the two wing tips had fallen off from the wings of the aircraft. [61][62] 37 airlines continued overflying eastern Ukraine and about 900 flights crossed the Donetsk region in the seven days before the Boeing 777 was shot down. [319] In Malaysia, makeshift memorials were created in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. [75] Dozens of bodies fell into crop fields, and some fell into houses. "[117] Russia later circulated a rival resolution which criticised the international investigation's lack of "due transparency" and demanded those responsible be brought to justice, but which did not call for a tribunal. [4] Contact with the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was lost when it was about 50km (31mi) from the UkraineRussia border, and wreckage from the aircraft fell near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40km (25mi) from the border. [231], On 25 May 2018 the governments of the Netherlands and Australia issued a joint statement in which they laid responsibility on Russia "for its part" in the crash. In an article, The Insider website commented on Russia's motives in requesting the exchange of a Ukrainian citizen. [371] Ukrainska Pravda questioned claims about the Ukrainian anti-aircraft unit and stated that Zaroshchenske was under control of pro-Russian forces on the day of the shoot-down. [260] On 14 November 2019 the JIT published a new witnesses appeal and simultaneously released a number of recorded conversations of rebel leaders. [17][19] According to Bellingcat, these changes have usually been in response to new evidence published by DSB and the investigation team. [81][82][83] Other media complained that credit and debit cards were being looted,[84] and there were accusations that evidence at the crash site had been destroyed. At 16:19 local time (13:19 UTC), Dnipro Control noticed that the flight was 3.6 nautical miles (6.7km) north of the centreline of its approved airway and instructed MH17 to return to the track. [12] On the basis of the JIT's conclusions, the governments of the Netherlands and Australia held Russia responsible for the deployment of the Buk installation and were pursuing legal routes as of May2018[update]. [185] American intelligence agencies said that analysis of the launch plume and trajectory suggested the missile was fired from an area near Torez and Snizhne. [13] The Netherlands and Australian foreign ministers stated that they would hold Russia legally responsible for shooting the airliner down. After obtaining permission, Dnipro Control attempted to contact MH17 for handing them off to RND Control at 16:20 local time (13:20UTC), but the aircraft did not respond. [3]:30 The 84th Boeing 777 produced, it first flew on 17 July 1997, exactly 17 years before the incident, and was delivered new to Malaysia Airlines on 29 July 1997. [112][113] In association with the retirement of the Boeing 777 aircraft type from Malaysia Airlines' fleet, Malaysia Airlines ended its service to Amsterdam on 25 January 2016, opting to codeshare with KLM on the KUL-AMS route for the services instead. [331] Mostly posted in Russian, the tweets initially said the rebels had shot down a Ukrainian airplane, but quickly switched to accusing Ukraine of carrying out the attack. 17", "Russian officials reveal their witness in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 case", " "" MH-17: ", " "" (! Bellingcat described him as an important eye-witness to the events surrounding the downing of flight MH17. [105], On 22 August the bodies of 20 Malaysians (of 43 killed in the incident) arrived in Malaysia. [327][328][329] Researchers said views were influenced by the televisual infosphere. [65][66], The airspace above Donetsk was managed by Ukraine. [138] The United Kingdom sent six investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and the UK Foreign Office sent extra consular staff to Ukraine. [281] In May 2016 families of 33 victims of the crash filed a claim against Russia and president Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights, arguing Russian actions violated the passengers' right to life. [256] On 4 September 2019, an appeals court in Kyiv ruled to release Tsemakh. [3]:183 The militia reportedly claimed via social media that a Buk missile launcher, which they had previously seized and made operational, had been used to bring down the aircraft. The memorial includes 298 trees, one tree for each victim. [315], After the crash, memorial services were held in Australia[316] and in the Netherlands, which declared 23 July, the day when the first victims arrived in the country, a national day of mourning, the first since 1962. [189], On 8 September 2014, the BBC released new material by John Sweeney who cited three civilian witnesses from Donbas who saw the Buk launcher in the rebel-controlled territory on the day when MH17 crashed. [395] It is also a major event in Maryna Er Gorbach's film Klondike. He had taken photographs which he had passed to the SBU. At the time, Buk was the only surface-to-air missile system known to be deployed in the region that was capable of reaching the cruising altitude of commercial air traffic. [245] A treaty between the Netherlands and Ukraine made it possible for the Netherlands to prosecute in the cases of all 298 victims, regardless of their nationality.