An investigation by Berlin-based journalist team CORRECT!V in collaboration with German newspaper Spiegel and Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad has found evidence that a unit of the 53rd Russian Air Defense Brigade based in Kursk, western Russia, fired the missile that downed a passenger plane in Ukraine on July 17, killing 298 passengers and crew.
The investigation includes eyewitness accounts, social media analysis and other data, effectively disproving falsified reports by Russian “experts” who have attempted to blame the Ukrainian military for the incident, Ukraine Today reports.
Having traced the journey of missile launchers from Kursk in Russia to Ukraine's mining town of Snizhne, an area controlled by Kremlin-backed militants, via pictures in social media, the investigators claim to have found the missile launch site, along with new eyewitnesses.
The results of an ongoing official international investigation will be released later in the year.
See unian.info’s video section for more of the latest news from Ukraine in video from Ukraine Today, Ukraine’s 24-hour English-language news channel.