A British-based investigative team as named Russian soldiers likely to have been involved in the downing of Malaysian passenger jet MH17.
The Bellingcat online team published a 115-page report identifying members of the 2nd Battalion of the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade as the perpetrators of the attack.
The passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board – most of whom were Dutch nationals.
While the West and Ukraine blame pro-Russian rebels for the attack, Moscow has consistently denied any involvement and has pointed the finger at Ukrainian forces.
A Dutch report last year claimed the Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was hit by a Russian-made Buk missile.
Bellingcat has named dozens of Russian soldiers and officers from the 53rd Brigade, which is based in the city of Kursk, who it claims either had knowledge of the attack or carried it out directly.
The 115-page report concludes that it is very likely that members of the brigade’s 2nd Battalion were sent from Russia to eastern Ukraine.
Although most of those named are only identified by the first names and initials, the overall chief is named as Sergey Muchkayev.
The commander of the 2nd Battalion is named as Dmitry T.
‘The decision to send military equipment to the Russia-Ukraine border and to Ukraine was made at an even higher level – the level of the ministry of defence of Russia,’ the report reads.
‘Consistent with the probable conclusion that the Russian Buk missile launcher… downed MH17, the ministry of defence [of Russia] bears the main responsibility…shared with the military commanders and leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.’
The investigative team, founded by British journalist Eliot Higgins, has handed the names and evidence to the Dutch-led investigators.
The report, entitled ‘MH17 – Potential Suspects and Witnesses from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade’, was published on Tuesday.
It was reportedly investigated using open source data, for example, social media sites and web forums.
Dutch investigators are continuing a criminal inquiry into the disaster.
Russia hasn’t yet commented publicly on Bellingcat’s findings.
