US told to furnish alleged technical data and satellite photos of missile launch from rebel-held territory
MOSCOW: A senior Russian official called yesterday on the United States to prove its claims that the Malaysian passenger airliner shot down last week was hit by a missile fired from rebel-held territory in Ukraine.
“They’ve said US intelligence has technical data and satellite photos which show that the missile was launched from rebel-held territory. The question is where is this data”, Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with Russia-24 television.
US officials have in recent days said that satellite and other ‘technical’ intelligence confirmed the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with 298 people on board was hit last Thursday by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile from an area controlled by the pro-Russian rebels.
A senior US intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Tuesday in Washington that: “It’s a solid case that it’s a SA-11 that was fired from eastern Ukraine under conditions the Russians helped create.”
Washington has accused Russia of supplying pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine with weapons, a charge Moscow denies.
Russian military officials on Monday said their flight records showed a Ukrainian fighter jet was close to the Malaysian passenger airliner just before the Boeing 777 crashed on July 17 and that Kiev was operating radar stations used for missile systems. — AFP