Part of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 at the crash site in the village of Grabovo in eastern Ukraine, seen in a file photo taken on Sep 9, 2014. (AFP/Alexander KHUDOTEPLY)
There is no conclusive evidence that Russia is to blame for the 2014 downing of Malaysian flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on May 31, according to Channel News Asia.
Loke made these remarks commenting on the recent allegations by the so-called Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that a missile and a missile launcher used to shoot down MH17 had come from the Rusian military.
“There is no conclusive evidence to point at Russia under the JIT evidence,” Loke said. “But who’s responsible – you can’t just pinpoint at Russia.”
According to the transport minister, any further actions of Malaysia would be based “on conclusive evidence”.
The JIT published an interim report on the MH17 crash on May 24, 2018. The report claimed that the BUK missile had been from Russia’s 53rd Antiaircraft Brigade deployed near the southwestern city of Kursk.
Russia strongly denied any charges brought on by JIT. The Russian Defense Ministry said not a single antiaircraft complex had ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border.
