Leonid Bershidsky: Putin's evasions on flight MH-17 are a disgrace - May. 25, 2018

Leonid Bershidsky: Putin’s evasions on flight MH-17 are a disgrace

By Leonid Bershidsky.

Published May 25, 2018. Updated May 25 at 6:46 pm

The wrecked cockipt of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is exhibited during a presentation of the final report on the cause of the its crash at the Gilze Rijen airbase October 13, 2015. Air crash investigators have concluded that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a missile fired from rebel-held eastern Ukraine, sources close to the inquiry said today, triggering a swift Russian denial. The findings are likely to exacerbate the tensions between Russia and the West, as ties have strained over the Ukraine conflict and Moscow's entry into the Syrian war. / AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNAND

Photo by AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a peculiar response to May 24 announcement by the Dutch-led investigating team that it was a missile owned by the Russian military that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. Putin said he had no idea how that conclusion was reached because Russia isn’t allowed to take part in the investigation.

“The Ukrainian side is working there, though Ukraine broke international rules and didn’t close its airspace over a territory where combat was taking place,” Putin said during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. “And yet it’s working and Russia isn’t. So we don’t know what they’re writing there and what this commission’s writings are based on.”