Prosecutors investigating the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 said on Thursday they had identified the missile used to shoot down the plane as coming from Russia’s armed forces. For the first time, the Dutch-led team said the missile came from a Russian brigade based in the city of Kursk.
Wilbert Paulissen, head of the crime squad of the Netherlands’ national police, said the missile was fired from Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade.
He said that after studying all available photos and footage, investigators had been able to trace the convoy to Russia's 53rd brigade, which consists of 300 people based in Kursk in western Russia.
The top Dutch investigator said the Joint Investigation Team “has come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia”.
“All the vehicles in a convoy carrying the missile were part of the Russian armed forces”, he told a televised news conference.
Russia has denied involvement in the incident.
