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BOEING 777 CRASH IN DONBASS

Dutch media escalate anti-Russian propaganda ahead of MH17 report — expert

On October 13, the Dutch Safety Board will make public its final report, summing up results of 15-month investigation work

© TASS/Mikhail Sokolov

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THE HAGUE, October 8. /TASS/. A propaganda war in Dutch media to show the alleged role of Russia or eastern Ukrainian militias in the crash of a Malaysia Airlines plane escalates ahead of the release of a report on MH17 crash in Ukraine, a Dutch journalist and MH17 expert told Tass on Thursday.

Dutch media are "setting the tone" ahead of the release, said Joost Nuemoller, the author of a book on the MH 17 crash. The latest in the chain of propaganda materials was an interview to NOS news broadcaster by a former officer from the Ukrainian Security Service, Vassily Vovk, he said. Until June 2015, Vovk represented Kiev in an international team investigating the tragedy.

Speaking to journalists, Vovk said fragments of a Russian-made BUK missile had been found in crash victims. He alleged that the missile was fired from a missile system that had been redeployed to Ukraine from Russia and returned back after the crash.

The journalist said he was surprised at seeing this presented as "the news" as he had already heard about it earlier. "What came as real news to me, was that Ukraine was once again leaking information on international investigation," the expert said, adding that the Dutch authorities were strongly against this.

On October 13, the Dutch Safety Board will make public its final report, summing up results of 15-month investigation work. The document is to answer the question about the reasons behind the crash on July 17, 2014 that claimed the lives of 298 people on board.

On 17 July 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 passenger airliner on flight MH17 from the Dutch city of Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur crashed in the Donetsk Region in eastern Ukraine, killing all on board. Most passengers - 193 people - were Dutch nationals. The suspected cause of the crash is that the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile. The Dutch Safety Board is conducting the investigation.

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