Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that the international MH17 investigative team ignored the Buk manufacturers, Russian company Almaz-Antey, not taking their information into account. In an interview, Lavrov said: “Why do you think they never, ever approached the company, the Russian company which produces those systems? [Almaz-Antey] The company itself conducted its own study and they presented the results in June this year, but the fact that the investigators didn’t ever approach the company which produced the system from which the investigators say the plane was hit is causing a lot of questions.”

Continue reading →

In the days following the downing of MH17, the Russian media went into overdrive, manufacturing numerous outlandish theories. One of such tales involved an unnamed character, who gave an interview to notorious Russian propaganda outlet, Komsomolskaya Pravda, claiming that MH17 was shot down by Ukrainian pilot, 30-year old “Captain Voloshin.” His story is not even remotely believable, since this alleged “witness” falsely claimed that Ukrainian planes, SU-25, were continually bombing Lugansk and Donetsk “on a regular basis.” In fact, the Ukrainian military never used their aircraft to bomb any of the terrorist-controlled territories. Ukrainian planes and helicopters were used only for transporting cargo and personnel. For added benefit, this “witness” alleged that the Ukrainian military regularly uses thermobaric weapons and cluster bombs. The fake “whistleblower” alleged that two Ukrainian planes were shot down by Russian fighter jets and Captain Voloshin fired back, accidentally hitting the Malaysian Boeing instead.

Continue reading →

Russia’s other theories about the downing of MH17

Russia’s mainstream media disseminated an outrageous tale, claiming that the downing of Malaysia’s Boeing (flight MH17) over Eastern Ukraine was “a special operation of the CIA.” This ridiculous claim was brought forth by Sergei Sokolov – the former bodyguard of Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch who was found dead at his palatial Berkshire home in 2013. According to Sokolov, the CIA plan was to blow up the airliner from within, while simultaneously striking it with a missile from a Ukrainian “Buk”.

Continue reading →

Russia’s Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Andrey Kartopolov and Chief of the Air Force Main Staff, Lt. Gen. Igor Makushev participated in a media conference in Moscow on July 21, 2014. Their attempts at deflecting the blame were less than subtle. Russia’s military officials asked traditionally loaded questions along the lines of the infamous presupposition: “When did you stop beating your wife?” One of the chief claims in this presentation was cited by Russia Today as follows: “Why did #Ukraine SU-25 fly same path as #MH17, simultaneously at same altitude?”

Continue reading →

Notorious Girkin birthed one of the most outlandish allegations, claiming that all of the passengers on the Malaysia flight were already dead, prior to the plane being shot down. To buttress this allegation, Russian media raised the question of why the passports of the victims appeared to be so clean, as though they were brand new. This red herring may indeed impress some people in Russia, where the passport has to be shown even when you’re simply taking out the trash. This approach is drastically different from the West, where the passport is used mainly for international travel. Girkin likely borrowed this twisted tail of “corpses on a plane” from a British TV Series, “Sherlock.” Girkin’s lame attempt of convincing the world that his group of merry terrorists didn’t murder hundreds of innocents, “because they were already dead,” only magnifies their obvious culpability.

Continue reading →

Russian mainstream media often relies on unnamed social media users and self-proclaimed experts, without fact-checking any of their claims. Russia Today found someone claiming to be “Carlos,” an alleged Spaniard, working as an air traffic controller in Kyiv’s international airport, Borispol. Without ever fully identifying himself, “Carlos” Tweeted in Spanish that Ukrainian jets were following the passenger plane and shot it down. Numerous prominent news outlets picked up this ridiculous story, including television channel Russia 24, the Defense Ministry’s Zvezda channel, Rossiiskaya Gazeta and Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Continue reading →

The same terrorists who first proudly boasted they had the Buk system, then categorically denied it after shooting down MH17, now say they do have Buk, but it is “broken.” It should be noted that the terrorists previously claimed that should Buk malfunction, they could easily fix it up and use it to shoot down planes “like taking candy from a baby.” Russian news media gushed about the so-called “rebels” who will “guard the skies” with their new Buk system. Russian Twitter trolls, working in tandem with propagandists and the media, spread “happy news” about repaired Buk being ready for use as of July 14, 2014.

Continue reading →

“Russia One” television channel and other mainstream media in Russia would have you believe that OSCE has full trust in the “rebels”and has been granted full access to conduct a thorough investigation. In reality, OSCE report complains of “visibly intoxicated and aggressive” terrorists, who have given the investigators very limited access. Journalists on the scene report that victims wallets have been completely emptied, their belongings were looted and corpses ignored, while the terrorists took shameless selfies on-site.

Continue reading →

Russian mainstream media proudly boasted that the terrorists had in their possession SA-11 missile systems, also known as the Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile system. For example, on June 29, 2014,ITAR-TASS news agency reported that “rebels” gained control of a Buk missile installation. After the system was apparently used to shoot down the Malaysian airliner on July 17, 2014, ITAR-TASS reportedthat none of the “rebels” in any of the self-proclaimed “republics” in Eastern Ukraine ever had the lethal and sophisticated Buk. Recent intelligence reports reveal that neither one of these stories were correct, since the weaponry used for the attack, along with the crew of operators, was imported from Russia and later returned.

Continue reading →

Russian media networks proudly reported that so-called “rebels” again succeeded in shooting down a Ukrainian airplane. This act corresponded with the pattern of terrorist attacks on Ukrainian aircraft. On June 13th, terrorists shot down a Ukrainian transport plane, killing 40 paratroopers and 9 crew members. On June 24th, they downed a Ukrainian helicopter, killing all 9 on board. On July 14th, terrorists shot down a Ukrainian military cargo plane. On July 16th, terrorists downed a Ukrainian fighter jet. These attacks were praised and touted in the Russian mainstream media, as the victories of the imaginary “Novorussia” over the government of Ukraine.

Continue reading →