Russian ‘Buk’ manufacturer announces which missile shot down MH17

Russia’s air-defense systems manufacturer Almaz-Antei, which manufactures Buk missiles, has announced that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Buk 9 М³8 М1 missile, of the Buk M1 series. These conclusions were presented at Almaz-Antey’s press conference following the manufacturer’s own investigation into the crash.

According to Mikhail Malyshevsky, the chief designer’s aide of Almaz-Antei, the warhead hit the Boeing from the front and went through to the back along the entire airplane.

Almaz-Antei also concluded that the rocket which shot down Flight MH17 was launched from the village Zaroshchenskoe in Donetsk region. The manufacturer denied claims made by some investigators that the rocket was launched from the city of Snezhnoe.

News agency TASS reports that Almaz-Antei CEO Yan Novikov claimed he is ready to "stage a full-scale real-life experiment attended by independent observers and experts" to demonstrate the site of the missile launch.

Eduard Basurin, representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the east of Ukraine, immediately announced that the separatists did not have access to any Buk M1 missiles at the time of the MH17 crash.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed on July 17, 2014 in Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed.

Final results of the Dutch-led investigation into the crash have not yet been disclosed, but media reports have claimed that missile fragments matching Russian-made Buk M1-2 warheads were found at the crash site.

The Russian Ministry of Defense staunchly refuted all allegations, and stated in March 2015 that the parts found at the crash site are from a Buk M1 missile, which is operated only by Ukraine.

Almaz-Antey has appealed to the European Court of Justice, disputing sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU on account of the MH17 crash.