A teddy bear is placed next to wreckage at the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove (Photo : REUTERS/MARKO DJURICA)
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July 17 2014 and the blame is now being pinned by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on a Russian-made BUK missile. The probe concluded that Russia supplied the weapon that killed nearly 300 civilians, potentially escalating the ongoing feud between the country and NATO.
The Dutch-led JIT, according to BBC, said on its report that the BUK missile system definitely came from Russia. The JIT report, which was presented this week in Holland, identified the village of Pervomaiskyi where the "murder weapon" was launched, noting that the area was then controlled by Russian-supported Ukrainian separatist rebels.
The following day, the same missile system was brought back to Russia, the report said. JIT said that it is now sifting through the identities of possible suspects - those responsible for wheeling in and out the BUK missile system and the specific persons who ordered the attack on the commercial plane.
Prior to the findings, Russian authorities have maintained innocence. BBC said that Kremlin even pointed to the Ukrainian government as the source of the attack but later backtracked and conceded that MH17 was indeed downed by a BUK anti-aircraft missile.
Still, the Russians insisted of no direct or indirect involvement to the tragedy, which Time said also killed 80 children.
In response to the JIT report, a representative for Russian President Vladimir dismissed the result of the investigation by saying: "There is nothing to accept or to deny." Time said that going by the reaction so far from Kremlin, it's no surprise that Russia will continue on its non-cooperative stance on the matter.
"The investigators would need Russia to cooperate by addressing the evidence that the BUK missile came from Russian territory, and to explain what happened to this weapon once it was returned to Russia ... But there is no sign that Russia is prepared to meet any of those requirements," Time said on its report.
The latest development only underscored Moscow's hardline positon on the subject and further stoked fears that a shooting war will soon erupt, with Russia and NATO right in the middle of the brawl. Already, the two parties, with the United States on the lead, are engaged in proxy engagements - in Syria and in Ukraine, both of which could be the trigger that will start a feared thermonuclear showdown.
