Incriminating satellite images shed new light on MH17’s crash

Incriminating new satellite images have been released, which would appear to confirm the exact time and location of the air defence system that was used to take down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine on the 17th July 2014. 

The satellite images were released by global intelligence agency, Stratfor with further inquiry provided by AllSource analysis. The images claim to be captured just hours before the jet was shot down, which resulted in the death of all 298 passengers and crew on board flight MH17.

The images displayed a Buk air defence system near the separatist controlled Donetsk. Initially after the incident Russian Officials claimed that the Malaysian airlines flight was shot down by a Ukrainian plane and not a Russian missile. However in June last year analysis of the crash scene proved this statement wrong. The Russian manufacturer of the Buk air defence missile system concluded that the Malaysian flight 17 was shot down by an older version of the system. He continued by stating that this older version of the missile system was no longer active in the Russian military but was still part of the Ukrainian arsenal. 

Who actually fired the missile that took down flight MH17 on that fateful day is still highly shrouded in controversy. Many from the West suspect that MH17 was destroyed by the Buk Russian surface-to-air missile fired by Russian soldiers or Russian backed separatist rebels who were fighting in the area. Even though the evidence would point to the Russians being a contributing factor to the crash, Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement. 

Expert’s state the surfacing of the images is the closest Moscow will come to admitting it was behind the crash. The company Stratfor are responsible for examining the evidence of Russia’s involvement in the Malaysia Airlines Crash report. They state that the images that have just emerged shed fresh light on the July 2014 disaster. According to the report compiled, satellite partner AllSource “was able to locate images that confirm the exact time and location of the air defence system on the day of the crash.” Although Stratfor specified that the images definitely correlate with other evidence that has surfaced which would blame Russia for having an involvement, they did admit that the images do not definitively prove Russia was behind the disaster.  

This article first appeared in Issue 12, 2016.
Posted 10:44am Sunday 22nd May 2016 by Jonathan Guildford.