President Vladimir Putin has faced calls to admit what he knows about the MH17. Photo / AP
President Vladimir Putin faced calls to admit what he knows about the MH17, after Dutch prosecutors revealed the missile that shot down the airliner was transported into east Ukraine from Russia and fired from separatist-controlled territory.
In findings that raise serious questions about the culpability of the Russian state and
Putin - who is the commander in chief of the Russian armed forces - detectives also said the Buk SA-11 launch vehicle returned across the border a day later.
"MH17 was shot down by a 9M38 missile launched by a Buk, brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation, and that after launch was subsequently returned to the Russian Federation," Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Dutch police Central Crime Investigation department, said.
Russia, which has consistently denied any involvement in the tragedy, dismissed the findings as "biased and politically motivated".
The Malaysian plane was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpa when it was shot down on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard. At the time, Ukrainian Government forces were involved in heavy fighting with pro-Russian separatists who are known to have received significant Russian military support.
