MH17 investigators find ‘possible’ BUK missile fragments

INVESTIGATORS have found ‘possible’ Russian-made missile fragments at the MH17 crash site in Ukraine, bringing them a step closer to finding the culprit.

INVESTIGATORS probing the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine last year said they have identified pieces that “possibly” come from a Russian-made BUK missile at the crash site.

The revelation of the find of the Russian-made armament brings the investigation a step closer to laying blame for the shooting down of the passenger aircraft a year ago with the deaths of 298 passengers and crew including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

In a joint statement issued by the Dutch Safety Board looking into the crash and the multinational police force in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) mounting a criminal case, the groups confirmed the BUK missile parts were secured during a recent recovery mission to the crash site in Eastern Ukraine.

Investigation ... air base Gilze-Rijen in Holland near the German border where pieces of MH17 are being reassembled. Picture: Ella Pellegrini

But they were cautious about the find and its connection to the crash.

“The parts are of particular interest to the criminal investigation as they can possibly provide more information about who was involved in the crash of MH17,” a spokesman for the joint probe said.

“For that reason the JIT further investigates the origin of these parts. The JIT will internationally enlist the help of experts, among other forensic specialists and weapon-experts. “

But the spokesman added: “At present the conclusion cannot be drawn that there is a causal connection between the discovered parts and the crash of flight MH17.”

It had been widely suspected a BUK missile ground-to-air missile had been used to bring down the Boeing commercial airliner last July but it may never be known who fired it.

Meeting ... Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop prepares to speak at UN headquarters on July 29, 2015, after Russia vetoed a draft resolution in the Security Council to create a tribunal to prosecute those found responsible for the downing of MH17 over eastern Ukraine. Picture: AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

Military experts will analyse whether the BUK is a new model or old, the significance being an older model had been in use by the Ukraine military that lost their hardware when their bases in eastern Ukraine were overrun by Russian-backed separatist rebels or a new model as employed in the Russian military.

Russia still denies its troops are in Ukraine, other than “a few” soldiers on leave and private time, despite overwhelming evidence the country has deployed several tanks and other armaments and hundreds of troops to join the separatist militia.

The investigators, including a team from the Australian Federal Police, have been meeting this week in The Hague and will later this week gather at the Gilze-Rijen air base in southern Netherlands where the remains of MH17 have been put back together.

A report from both teams is expected to be publicly released by the end of this year.