A Russian defense firm claimed that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014 by an old Buk missile it used to manufacture. The type is not in service with the Russian military but reportedly is in Ukrainian armory.
In case the Malaysia Airlines' flight MH17 - a Boeing 777 was downed by an air defense system from the ground, it generally has to be a Buk-M1 system that is armed with a 9M38M1 missile, a Russian manufacturer noted on Tuesday, June 2.
CEO of Almaz-Antei, Yan Novikov noted that production of the missile 9M38M1 was cancelled in Russia in 1999, TASS news agency reported.
"The concern and its companies could not have supplied these missiles to anyone in the 21st Century," Novikov noted.
According to the Almaz-Antey firm, the Buk M1 guided missile was shot from an area south of Zaroshchenske. The statement is in alignment with earlier Russian claims that the rebels did not fire the missile, the Ukrainian forces did.
The annihilation of MH17 killed all 298 on board, for which Ukraine accused the pro-Russian rebels.
BBC noted that there's a controversy as far as who controlled the Zaroshchenske area at the time is concerned. While the Russian military said the area was under Ukrainian military control, Ukrainian officials claim it was already under the control of the rebels.
After analyzing shrapnel damage, Almaz-Antey identified the missile as "9M38M1 of the Buk M1 system."
The remains fell in an area that is in control of pro-Russian rebels. According to Ukraine and Western investigators, the rebels armed by Russia, fired the missile. Ukraine, however has denied Russian claims that Ukrainian forces were equipped with Buk M1 missiles in that area, according to records on India Today.
Emphasizing that not a single missile has been made since 1999, Novikov said in a press conference, "at the same time we have irrefutable evidence this type of missiles is still in service in the Ukrainian armed forces. Back in 2005, the company conducted pre-contract work on prolonging the service life of these weapons in Ukraine. At that moment there were 991 such missiles there," he stated.
"We do not dismiss other versions, but if it is true that the Boeing airliner was shot down by an air defense missile, the Buk-M1 system and the mentioned rocket were the sole possibility."
However, Mikhail Malyshevsky, an advisor of Almaz-Antei said, "we have calculated the most probable area (of the launch). This is the area to the south of the village of Zaroshchenskoye."
"If necessary, we will be prepared to stage a full-scale real-life experiment attended by independent observers and experts," he said. "In other words, we will blow up a 9M38M1 missile placed next to the fuselage of the same manufacturer's written-off plane at the angles mentioned at this presentation," Malyshevsky added.
Novikov also noted, "We will do it, if strictly necessary, despite serious expenses."
