On July 17, 2014 at an altitude of 10.110 meters have been shot down civilian aircraft Boing-777 (MAS-17) of  the Malaysian Airlines performing a flight between Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). All 280 passengers and 15 crew members aboard died.

This crash is a tragedy for Ukraine and the world.

We express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who died in this terrible accident.

President of Ukraine immediately initiated the establishment of the State Commission with the involvement of the ICAO and other international agencies for proper investigation into the causes of terrorism. Being made every possible search and rescue.

 Thus, on currently available information, about 16.20 (Kyiv time) the aircraft was disappeared from the radar screens of the Dnipropetrovsk regional control center. The aircraft went down in 3 kilometers northwest of the town Shakhtarsky (Donetsk Region) near the Ukrainian-Russian border.

The place of crash site wreckage is situated in the zone, which is currently under the operational control of terrorist groups supported by Russia. In view of this the Government of Ukraine is taking all measures in order to negotiate with the NFP and get the full access to the crash site to carry out the necessary actions of the identification and repatriation of dead bodies to their homeland.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine established the operational headquarters that works around the clock for processing requests of the families of dead passengers and co-ordination of the work of diplomatic missions of foreign states accredited in Ukraine. Also, the relevant headquarters established on the Embassy of Ukraine in Malaysia and Embassy of Ukraine in the Netherlands. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will ensure expeditious issuance of visas to relatives of the victims, including on arrival at the airport `Borispol`.

Over the last days it has the third shot down aircraft – on July 14 and July 16 from the territory of the Russian Federation were shot down the Ukrainian Armed Forces aircrafts AN-26 and SU-25.

At this stage Ukraine have got every reason to consider that this case refers to the deliberate shooting down the aircraft using antiaircraft-missile complex.

It is important to note, that during the time of ATO the antiaircraft-missile systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not being used, was not a single anti-aircraft missiles launching. Aircraft Boeing 777 has been located outside the defeat of ground-based air defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In a few hours after the attack Security Service of Ukraine received and published the undeniable evidence that the aircraft was shot down by pro-Russian terrorists from Russian weapons (recording of the relevant phone conversation is available on: http://youtu.be/BbyZYgSXdyw).

This incident finally proved that in the background of the imposing by Kremlin instability in the Donbas are not political processes, but state terrorism, which is a directly threatening to international peace and security.

 

Photo: ЕРТ