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Netherlands took note of Malaysian PM’s statement on MH17 crash, media report

Earlier, Mahathir Bin Mohamad claimed that the investigation of the MH17 crash had been politicized, noting that the plane may have been shot down by Ukraine

© EPA-EFE/AHMAD YUSNI

THE HAGUE, May 31. /TASS/. The government of Netherlands has taken note of the statement by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad concerning the MH17 plane crash in Ukraine in July 2014, the RTL channel informed on Friday, citing the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

"We have taken note of these statements," the ministry noted, adding that Malaysia "has always supported the investigation both from the angle of bilateral relations and as a member of the Joint Investigation Team."

Earlier, Mohamad claimed that the investigation of the MH17 crash had been politicized, noting that the plane may have been shot down by Ukraine.

The Boeing-777 passenger plane operated by Malaysian Airlines crashed on July 17, 2014, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in the east of the Donetsk Region. As a result, 298 people, citizens of 10 states, were killed in the crash. The parties to the armed conflict in Donbass accused each other of being complicit in the tragedy.

On May 24, 2018, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), consisting of representatives from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, released its update on the criminal investigation into the MH17 crash. According to the JIT, "the BUK-TELAR that was used to down MH17 originates from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile brigade (hereinafter 53rd brigade), a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation."

Russia’s Defense Ministry rejected all the accusations saying that none of the Russian Army’s air defense missile systems had ever crossed the border between Russia and Ukraine.

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