The investigative Bellingcat group says it knows that Russian general Andrey Ivanovich Burlaka was involved in moving the SAM installation from Russia to Ukraine that brought down flight MH17. The Public Prosecution Service says it does not want to comment on names in a response.
In November 2019, the Public Prosecution Service called on witnesses who know more about the possible role of the Russian government in the downing of the aircraft of Malaysia Airlines on 17 July 2014 to report.
Transcripts and sound recordings were shared with this call, which included the name of Vladimir Ivanovich several times. Bellingcat says this is Burlaka, a senior officer within the Russian security agency FSB. Bellingcat says it came to this conclusion from research on flight data, a phone number linked to Ivanovich and voice comparison.
Burlaka is said to have supervised the delivery of weapons by Russia to the separatists, and thus also the “Buk” missile.
The Public Prosecution does not want to go into names when asked, but says it is happy that other parties are also investigating. “The Public Prosecution Service will still have to conduct its own investigation,” but it is content that people respond to the witness call.
The Public Prosecution Service previously stated that it could be deduced from the intercepted reports that Ivanovich would be a high-ranking officer who comes from Russia.
At the beginning of this year, the lawsuit started against four suspects of involvement in the downing of flight MH17. The disaster with Malaysia Airlines killed 298 people, including nearly two hundred Dutch.
The trial continues on June 8.
About the author: Rick Culpepper
Rick Culpepper is of those journalists who dig the topic to the very bottom. He is often late with the delivery of the piece, but always does it perfectly. In his spare time, he collects data for one of the most high-profile investigations of corruption in the EU.
