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Thursday, May 24, 2018, 18:25
Investigators: Russian military missile downed Flight MH17
By Agencies
Thursday, May 24, 2018, 18:25 By Agencies

In this July 18, 2014 photo, rescuers stand on the site of the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine. (DOMINIQUE FAGET / AFP)

BUNNIK, Netherlands — An international team of investigators says that detailed analysis of video images has established that the Buk missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly four years ago came from a Russia-based military unit.

Dutch authorities concluded in October 2015 that the flight was hit by a Russian-made Buk missile, killing all 298 passengers and crew

Wilbert Paulissen of the Dutch National Police said Thursday that the missile was from the Russian military's 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the Russian city of Kursk.

READ MORE: Missile that hits MH17 'most likely fired by Ukrainian rebels'

Paulissen was speaking at a presentation of interim results of the long-running investigation into the downing of flight MH17.

The passenger jet was headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 passengers and crew were killed.

Russia has always denied involvement in the downing of the jet.

PUBLIC APPEAL

Investigators will appeal to the public Thursday to assist in their inquiries into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly four years ago over eastern Ukraine. 

This graphic published by AFP on Sept 28, 2016 shows details about the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.

Dutch prosecutors said in September 2016 that 100 people of interest had been identified in the investigation, while Australian and Malaysian officials expressed hope that suspects would be made public in 2017. 

ALSO READ: Ukraine military downed MH17, says Russia

Indictments have yet to be released and the suspects are likely to be tried in absentia in the Netherlands after Russia used its veto to block a UN Security Council resolution seeking to create an international tribunal.

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