Hackers leak Russia’s fake stories on MH17 disaster

Kremlin leaks have ­revealed Russian use of disinformation over the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.

Ukrainian rescue workers inspect part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July, 2014. Picture: Getty Images

Kremlin leaks have ­revealed Russian use of disinformation over the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 in which 38 Australians died.

Emails hacked by a coalition of Ukrainian activists called ­Cyberhunta from accounts linked to senior Kremlin officials contained a briefing document that set out eight separate messaging “lines to take” over the crash, which killed 298 people.

The eight narratives sought to blame Ukraine for the disaster, although the Boeing jet was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile. The briefing note was dated July 20-27, 2014, the week after the crash.

One of the narratives encouraged officials to compare the crash to the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand before World War I and accuse Kiev of provoking a new world conflict.

The briefing note was found among more than 4165 leaked documents.

British officials ­believe Russia has spread disinformation after the chemical weapons attack in Syria earlier this month, and the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury last month.

A Whitehall source said that 31 different false or distorted narratives had been pushed out by Russian officials and through state-backed media channels. They included claims that there was no gas attack in Douma, that Britain staged the attack and that Britain’s intelligence services carried out the attempted assassination of the Skripals in order to justify an increase in defence spending.

The MH17 briefing, which was titled “Thematic lines for work in the political field”, was among thousands contained in the ­“Surkov leaks”, named after Vladislav Surkov, a Kremlin spin master alleged by some to be President Vladimir Putin’s Rasputin. The Kremlin claims that the Surkov leaks are fabricated. The documents were analysed by InformNapalm, a Ukrainian journalism group that released them online. The last of three tranches was uploaded in November.

Bob Seely, a Conservative MP and Russia expert, and Alya Shandra, managing editor of ­Euromaidan Press, a Ukrainian news website, have further examined the leaks and translated key parts. Their research will be published by the Royal United Services Institute this northern spring.

Mr Seely told The Times: “This document is the only written evidence to prove that the Russian state has actively engaged in disinformation strategies, which it has attempted to disseminate to global audiences. We have heard their diplomats and media but there has been nothing in writing.”

The Times