MH17 investigators: Putin gave permission to hand over the Buk fighters, from which the plane was shot down

Investigators of the MH17 crash believe that permission to move the Buk anti-aircraft missile complex from which the plane was shot down could have been given directly by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

This is stated in the report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

The investigators refer to the recordings of phone conversations of Russian officials in early June 2014, in which it is said that the decision to provide military support to the "L/DPR" militants remains with the president of the Russian Federation. Decisions are even delayed, "because there is only one, the ʼnumber oneʼ, who makes decisions..., the person who is currently at the summit in France." On June 5-6, 2014, Putin was in France to celebrate the anniversary of the Normandy Operation.

"There is concrete information that the request of the separatists was conveyed to the president and it was granted. It is not known whether the Buk system is mentioned in the request. A little later, heavier air defense systems appear, in particular the Buk, from which MH17 was shot down. Although we talk about strong evidence, full and convincing evidence has not been obtained. In addition, the president enjoys immunity as head of state," the report says.

• The passenger plane of the Malaysia Airlines company, operating flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17, 2014 near the occupied Torez of the Donetsk region by a Russian-made Buk anti-aircraft missile system. 298 people died. Russia and the convicts deny their involvement in the disaster.
• On November 17, 2022, the District Court of The Hague, considering the case of the downing of the airliner MH17 in 2014, found Ihor Hirkin (call sign "Strelkov"), his subordinates Serhiy Dubinsky (call sign "Khmuryi") and Leonid Kharchenko (call sign "Krot") guilty of destroying the flight "), Oleh Pulatov (call sign "Gyurza") was acquitted.