Texts between soldier and lover expose clues in MH17 downing investigation

Amorous texts between a Russian soldier and a mystery lover have exposed a clue in what happened in the MH17 plane crash disaster.

A series of flirty texts between a Russian soldier and a mystery lover have provided a major clue in the search for answers over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

In announcing four suspects have been charged with murder over the shooting down of the flight — killing all 298 people on board — Dutch investigators released a transcript of the crucial texts.

Dutch police chief Wilbert Paulissen said the messages were sent as part of a social chat between one of the soldiers and a woman called “Anastasia” on Russia’s VK website.

In the texts, sent in the summer of 2014, the soldier grumbled about his “asshole first lieutenant” and said he was being sent in a convoy to a “secret location in the west” — understood to be the Ukraine.

The messages begin when the soldier reveals he had been stationed near his lover, who is understood to live in Rostov in far western Russia.

“We already have been at your place,” he wrote. “Well we didn’t reach Rostov, but we drove past Millerovo, Kamensk (a town and a city just north of Rostov, near the Ukrainian border).”

Anastasia asked what the soldier thought of the region, and the soldier said he had been staying in a forest near Kuybyshevo for three months.

The texts were sent between a soldier and a woman called ‘Anastasia’.

She asked which battalion he served.

“In the second,” he replied. “On the way to Rostov cool guys from the third drove with us, so we went completely nuts.”

Investigators say it was a medium-range surface-to-air missile from the third battalion that shot down MH17 in eastern Ukraine.

The soldier says one of the lieutenants staying with them in the woods was an “asshole” and there was a lot of booze involved, but after Millerovo, the two battalions parted as the third drove in “another direction”.

The soldier reveals he’d been stationed in a forest for three months.

Anastasia asks where, but the soldier says he can’t say as it’s a “big secret”.

“If somebody finds out, heads will roll, I can only give a hint,” he wrote.

His clue, perhaps a reference to the hit Go West by American disco group the Village People, comes in the form of a question.

“Do you know the song?” he asked, before giving it away. “They gave him an order … to the West.”

Anastasia asks whether he means the Ukraine.

The texts have formed part of the MH17 investigation.

The soldier hints that the third battalion went to the Ukraine.

“Well … look, you are not only beautiful but also smart,” the soldier replies, clearly indicating she was right.

Investigators say the exchange proves members of the third battalion headed west to eastern Ukraine.

Not long after this exchange, in July 2014, MH17 dropped out of the sky over the region held by pro-Russia separatists.

Everybody on board died, including 38 Australians, and the news of charges being brought against three Russians and a Ukrainian allegedly behind the downing have been welcomed around the world.

Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop says grieving families will be relieved.

“I welcome this progress in the investigation of the shooting down of MH17 with the naming of these four individuals to be prosecuted for their role in what was a despicable crime,” Ms Bishop told ABC Radio National this morning.

The suspects have been named in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014 when 298 people were killed. Picture: AFP Photo / Alexander Khudoteply

A graphic showing MH17's flight path. Picture: Openbaar Ministerie Parket Generaal

“And I think it will be a relief to the families who deserve answers as to how their loved ones died aboard that plane.”

Overnight, Dutch prosecutors charged Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian Leonie Kharachenko over the July 17, 2014, disaster in eastern Ukraine.

All four were officials in the pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic and were allegedly responsible for the Buk missile launcher being brought into the area from Russia.

As foreign minister, Ms Bishop led a push for the international community to have access to the crash site, located where Ukrainian armed forces and Russian-backed armed separatists had been fighting.

She also doggedly pursued justice for the victims and their families. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has rejected the charges against its nationals as “absolutely unfounded” and criticised investigators for using “dubious sources of information” and ignoring the evidence provided by Moscow in order to “discredit the Russian Federation”.

But Ms Bishop said the team investigating the incident — which includes police from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and the Ukraine — had been “extremely thorough and diligent and independent”.

Julie Bishop welcomed the charges over the disaster. Picture: Kym Smith

“Russia has long waged a disinformation campaign against the joint investigation team. There have been cyberattacks targeting the investigation,” she said. “But I have full confidence in the joint investigation team’s independence.”

Having spoken directly with Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, Ms Bishop said she had seen no evidence that would undermine what the investigators had found.

“At no time did any Russian leader, whether it be their ambassador, their foreign minister or President Putin, reveal to me any information that would dispute the findings of the joint investigation team.”

Russia should now comply with a United Nations resolution that mandates states co-operate with the investigation, she stressed.

“I know the Australia government would be urging Russia to co-operate in good faith with this investigation and release any information that it has to support the prosecution,” Ms Bishop said.

The four men who have been charged will be tried — likely in absentia, because Russia and the Ukraine don’t allow the extradition of their citizens — in The Netherlands on March 9.

Ms Bishop is confident that even if the men don’t appear in court, the culmination of processes underway — including one aimed at holding Russia as a nation to account for the incident — will bring justice.

Dutch police chief Wilbert Paulissen unveils photos of the four suspects accused of murder over the downing of MH17. Picture: Robin van Lonkhuijsen / ANP / AFP

“I have confidence that through these complementary but separate processes, those responsible will be held to account,” she said.

“People boarding commercial planes must feel safe that their flights won’t be brought down by military force operating somewhere in the world.”

Ms Bishop’s successor Marise Payne said the laying of charges for what was a “despicable act” was a significant step to getting justice for the families of the dead.

“While we cannot take away the grief of those who lost loved ones, we will continue to do everything possible to ensure justice prevails,” she said in a statement.