MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Russia has requested the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICA) to interfere with the investigation of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight crash in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, Oleg Storchevoy, deputy head of the Federal Aviation Agency, said on Wednesday.
"Important data that fragments allegedly belonging to Buk missile complex were found on the crash site have been concealed from us," Storchevoy said. "We learned this only at the last meeting in August when we were told that no more meetings will be held and our concerns will not considered."
The international commission’s approach to the investigation "has forced us to ask OICAO to interfere with the probe," he said.
He also said that media circulation of photographs of the missile’s alleged fragments two months before the official report’s release was an attempt to influence public opinion.
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- Moscow says Dutch PM’s call to cooperate on MH17 crash investigation ‘strange’
- MH17 investigation suggests attempts to conceal Boeing crash cause — lawmaker
- MH17 hit by missile Ukraine launched from militia-controlled region — Dutch Safety Board
- Dutch report conclusions on MH17 crash contradict Russian missiles manufacturer’s findings
- Experts say MH17 might have been downed by Ukraine
Conspiracy between members of commission on MH17 investigation not ruled out
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) does not rule out a possibility of a conspiracy between the foreign members of the commission on the investigation of the MH17 crash, the agency’s deputy head Oleg Storchevoy told reporters.
"The [commission’s] findings surprised us and made us think that there may be a conspiracy," he said.
"Members of the Russian commission were not involved in any secret agreements. We were open to working with all members of the commission and provided information to the commission," Storchevoy added.
Russia supports the conclusion of the international commission probing into the MH17 crash over Ukraine that Ukraine is responsible for failing to close its airspace to civil aircraft over the zone of hostilities, he concluded.
Commission received US satellite images of MH17 crash ‘unofficially’
American side provided satellite images of the MH17 crash to the international commission "unofficially," which allegedly makes it impossible to use them, Oleg Storchevoy said.
According to him, the international commission for the MH17 crash probe said "they [the United States] supplied us with these data unofficially and that is why we can’t provide them to you."
"If there are such data, why are they not provided? Who benefits from this? Maybe, someone just doesn’t want [to provide this information]?" Storchevoy said, adding that a US military satellite was located over the MH17 crash site when the tragedy occurred.
MH17 crash investigation report
On Tuesday, the Dutch Safety Board published the results of its probe into the MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine in mid-July 2014 and its results contradict the findings announced by the Russian antiaircraft missile system manufacturer Almaz-Antey.
According to the report the airliner was hit by a missile with the 9H314M warhead. Meanwhile, Almaz-Antey showed earlier on Tuesday that the Boeing was shot down by an older missile modification with different striking elements.
Almaz-Antey also confirmed the version that the fatal missile had been launched from the Zaroshchenskoye community controlled by the Ukrainian military and rejected the international commission’s version of the missile’s launch from Snezhnoye, a town that had been under militia’s control at that time.