The chief lawyer of a Dutch-led team of international investigators said the missile and launcher used to shoot down a Malaysian Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine in July of 2014 came from the Russian military. The long-running investigation had already had decided that a Russian-made Buk antiaircraft missile downed Flight 17. On Tuesday, the team announced that the launcher belonged to Russia's 53rd anti-aircraft brigade.

The announcement opens the possibility that the Dutch could sue the Russians for the attack that killed all 298 people on board. The Russian Defense Ministry rejected the findings of the investigative team.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov questioned the fairness of the investigation. “The investigation team had two main sources – the Internet and the Ukrainian special services," he said, adding that these two sources “cannot help but cause doubts."

Blaming Russia for the deaths of the European tourists on their way to Kuala Lumpur and bringing criminal charges against the Russian military or Russia’s government probably would worsen problems between the Kremlin and the West. After the attack on July 17, 2014, the West brought strong sanctions against Russia.

Aliqismet BADALOV,
“Khalq qazeti”