Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency says a local militia shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July, Der Spiegel reports, as quoted by Russia Today. The BND is said to possess “ample evidence,” though none of it has been made public.
The statement was made on October 8, when Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) president Gerhard Schindler was holding a secret meeting with members of the parliamentary control committee, the German daily informed on Sunday.
He claimed the militia fired a rocket from a BUK defense missile system that it had captured from a Ukrainian base. It then exploded next to the plane, according to the report. “Schindler provided ample evidence to back up his case, including satellite images and diverse photo evidence,” the report added. However, no “evidence” has yet been made public, and the BND has not made any official statements on the matter.
At the same meeting, Schindler reportedly said that certain intelligence on the crash provided by the Ukrainian side was false, adding “this can be explained in detail.” However, he did not give much credit to Russia’s evidence either.
The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office told the newspaper that an investigation has been launched into unknown perpetrators under the possibility that the downing had been a war crime.
First deputy prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Andrey Purgin, refuted claims made by the German intelligence agency. He told Interfax that Kiev forces could have downed the plane, mistaking it for a spy jet.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was downed over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Nearly two-thirds of the passengers were from the Netherlands.