Russia has released “military monitoring data” which claims to show “Kiev military jets tracking the MH17 plane shortly before the crash”, posing a set of questions to Ukraine and the US over the circumstances of the tragedy.
A press release issued by the Russian embassy in Doha says military officials – chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Andrey Kartopolov and chief of the Air Force Main Staff Lieutenant-General Igor Makushev – posed a number of questions to Kiev and Washington concerning the possible causes of the catastrophe in eastern Ukraine that killed almost 300 people on July 17. Among the questions listed in the release are:
1) Why did the MH17 plane leave the international corridor?
“Please note that the plane stayed within the corridor until it reached Donetsk but then it deviated from the route to the north,” said Kartopolov.
2) Was MH17 leaving the route a navigation mistake or was the crew following instructions by Ukrainian air traffic controllers in Dnepropetrovsk?
“The maximum deviation from the left border of the corridor was 14km. Following that, we can see the plane manoeuvring to return to the corridor, yet the Malaysian crew did not get a chance to complete the manoeuvre. At 17.20, the plane began to lose speed, and at 17.23 it disappeared from Russian radars.”
3) Why was a large group of air defence systems deployed to the militia-held area if the self-defence forces have no planes?
“As far as we know, the Ukrainian military had three or four air defence battalions equipped with Buk-M1 SAM systems deployed in the vicinity of Donetsk on the day of the crash. This system is capable of hitting targets within the range of 35km at the altitude of up to 22km.”
4) Why did Kiev deploy BUK missile systems on the edge of militia-controlled zones directly before the tragedy?
“We have satellite photos of the places where Ukraine had its air defence units deployed in the southeastern parts of the country,” the release quoted Kartopolov and Makushev as saying.
5) On the day of the crash Kiev intensified Kupol-M1 9S18 radar activity, key BUK system components. Why?
6) What was a military plane doing on the route intended for civilian flights?
7) Why was the military jet flying so close to a passenger plane?
8) Where did the launcher – from a video circulated by Western media and showing a BUK system being moved allegedly from Ukraine to Russia – come from? As the video was made on the territory controlled by Kiev, where was the launcher being transported?
9) Where is it right now? Why are some of the missiles missing on the launcher? When was the last time a missile was launched from it?
10) Why haven’t US officials revealed the evidence supporting claims that the MH17 was shot down by a missile launched by the militia?
MH17 victim’s father dies of ‘broken heart’
Downed flight MH17 has claimed another victim in a 93-year-old man who succumbed to the “indescribable grief” of losing his daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren in the crash, family members have said.
Hendrik (Henk) Palm, from the northern Dutch town of Roden, died “after the indescribable grief of losing his daughter, Erla (Palm), son-in-law Rob (van der Linde) and grandchildren Merel and Mark” in the Malaysia Airlines crash, family members said in a death notice carried by De Stentor regional newspaper.
The notice, to be found on a link from the paper’s website, said Palm died on Tuesday, five days after the crash that claimed the lives of 298 people, including 193 Dutch citizens.
Signed by the families Palm and Bruggeman, the name of the patriarch’s deceased wife, the notice also paid tribute “in loving memory” to the family of four who died when the plane was shot down over conflict-torn east Ukraine.
Dutch newspapers have reported that the four, also from Roden, were on their way to Malaysia for a holiday.
Granddaughter Merel was 17, and her brother Mark, 12.
Erla Palm had been the infirm, elderly widower’s only daughter and key caregiver, her cousin told regional broadcaster RTV Drenthe.
Several people posted online condolences yesterday in sympathy with the family tragedy.
“Dear Mr Palm, that you had to die of a broken heart. But hopefully you have now been reunited with your daughter,” wrote one, who signed off as “A mother”.
The country observed a day of mourning last Wednesday as investigators worked to collect victims’ remains from the crash site.
Rebels prepare train with luggage
Rebel leaders in east Ukraine said yesterday that a train carriage filled with the personal belongings of the victims of downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 had been handed over to Dutch officials.
“The carriage has been sealed and is ready to be sent out of the territory of the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’,” said Sergei Kavtaradze, a member of the self-declared rebel authority’s security council.
The train carriage contains “personal belongings and luggage of the disaster”, he said in a statement, adding that it had been formally signed over to the Dutch on the ground in rebel territory on Saturday.
Kavtaradze was not immediately available to give further details.
The Netherlands is leading an investigation of the July 17 incident and are planning to deploy gendarmes and police to the scene of the crash near Donetsk, along with Australian officers.
Russia has also opened its own inquiry.
