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Russia excluded from MH17 crash probe, Kremlin says

Moscow is monitoring the investigation into the causes of the MH17 flight crash, Dmitry Peskov told reporters

MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. The Kremlin has not responded to a letter of MH17 crash victims’ relatives sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin, recalling that Russia has been left out of the investigation.

"Indeed, we have seen media reports about this letter, but there is no reaction so far," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Meanwhile, Peskov pointed out that "Russia is not part of a mechanism to investigate the incident." "Unfortunately, we were actually excluded from this investigative mechanism," he said. According to him, "those who wrote this letter should just understand this." Peskov also noted that Moscow was monitoring the investigation into the causes of the MH17 flight crash.

"This is a process, which is under a watchful eye, and certainly, we know all the information, which is considered there," he said, noting that he meant "the information that was currently considered during the court hearings."

"Unlike many others, we don’t ignore but we also take into account very carefully the alternative information that is given," Peskov stated. "Very different theories may be considered," according to him. "But since we are not party to the investigation, we cannot directly influence the process," he said.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing-777 passenger plane travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17, 2014, over Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk. The crash killed all the 283 passengers, citizens of 10 countries, and 15 crewmembers.