Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov announced this on Ukrainian television Law enforcement officers and the military are still determining the exact type of missiles used The civilian infrastructure has been seriously damaged This is practically the center of the settlement and residential buildings nearby," Syniehubov said five others are hospitalized with moderate injuries Two additional victims received medical care at the scene Syniehubov explained that Russian forces used a double-strike tactic <script async src="https://telegram.org/js/telegram-widget.js?22" data-telegram-post="prokuratura_kharkiv/20455" data-width="100%"></script> when the emergency services arrived to address the consequences The enemy aims to inflict maximum damage on civil services And it is targeting civilian objects," he added Russian forces launched a missile attack on Zlatopil damaging nearby non-residential buildings and civilian vehicles The Russians launched a second strike shortly afterward Photo credit: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Putin's Victory Day truce "doesn't sound like much if you know where we started from," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 5 Far-right Euroskeptic candidate George Simion head of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan placed second with 20.99% of the vote and the candidate from the ruling coalition "It requires the continuation of contacts between Moscow and Washington which have been launched and are now ongoing," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said set to operate within the Council of Europe will focus on Russia's political and military leaders up to 20 Russian soldiers were killed and their equipment destroyed The move represents an apparent violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions passed in the wake of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests "We are ready to deepen our contribution to the training of the Ukrainian military," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on May 5 Davis's arrival follows the resignation of Ambassador Bridget Brink  (Updated:  December 10, 2024 3:16 pm) • 2 min readby Martin FornusekThe aftermath of a Russian missile attack against Zlatopil (State Emergency Service)A Russian missile attack against the town of Zlatopil in Kharkiv Oblast on Dec A hit was recorded near a bank, damaging non-residential buildings and cars, the governor said at around 10:20 a.m Russia likely deployed two Iskander-M ballistic missiles against the town, Ukraine's Interior Ministry reported The victims included two men aged 49 and 59 and eight women aged between 29 and 62 Eight of the injured residents were hospitalized is located around 60 kilometers (roughly 35 miles) south of Kharkiv Lying near the Russian border and occupied territories in the northeast, Kharkiv Oblast is a regular target of Russian attacks resulting in civilian casualties and damage Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies Today, Russia launched 2 rocket attacks on the town of Zlatopil, Lozova district, Kharkiv region. The first one hit a banking institution, and the second one hit the administrative building, according to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration As a result of the Russian strike near a banking institution several non-residential buildings and civilian cars were damaged Russia hit the administrative building again causing further destruction and injuries among the civilian population 5 people were reported injured in the Russian shelling 8 victims who were injured during the repeated Russian shelling were hospitalized Rescuers and medics continue to work at the scene Law enforcement officers are collecting data on the extent of the damage and the nature of the shelling The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported that the Russian army had preliminarily fired two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at the city “Prosecutors and police investigators are taking all possible and appropriate measures to document war crimes committed by the Russian military,” the office said In late November, Russia shelled the center of Kharkiv The attack hit the Kyivskyi district of the city Rescuers were working at the site to put out the fire Russia also launched a massive strike on Ukrainian energy facilities on November 28, causing widespread power outages across the country, casualties and destruction. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Russian shelling of Zlatopil in the Kharkiv region injured 17 people. Russia launched 2 missile strikes on the city, according to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov. “17 people were injured,” states the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration On December 10, Russian troops shelled Zlatopil, Kharkiv region Russian invaders used the tactic of a double strike during the shelling of Zlatopil: the first one hit a bank and the second hit an administrative building A memorial service for a fallen soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was held on the square in front of the Khimik Palace of Culture. The Hero was buried at the Pervomaiskyi city cemetery. Oleksandr Anatoliiovych Tucha “Dok Kai” (Jan. 20, 1973 – Jan. 20, 2023), born in Kharkiv Oblast, was a junior sergeant of the 49th Separate Rifle Battalion “Carpathian Sich”. Before the war, he worked as an electrical engineer. Oleksandr voluntarily attended paramedic courses and started rescuing soldiers on the battlefield in 2015. Served in different units and different locations. In the fall of 2021, as part of the Ukrainian voluntary organization of paramedics Hospitallers, Oleksandr served in the Joint Forces Operation zone, in particular near Mariupol. He signed the second contract as a reservist of the Territorial Defence Forces and was appointed to the position of combat medic of the sapper platoon of the 121st battalion of the territorial defense. On Feb. 24, 2022, he joined the defense of Kharkiv as a platoon combat medic. Died near the village of Terny, Lyman district, Donetsk Oblast, during the tank attack. Oleksandr is survived by his wife and daughter. Subscribe to news from Kharkiv, UkraineMost important stories from the frontline region Google Facebook Or Register from Google Register from Facebook Or Website materials are permitted only with an active link to “GWARA MEDIA,” not lower than the third paragraph The use of digital platform content is allowed with textual attribution Content for documentary films and integrated products is permitted The site was modernized with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in 2023 ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Russian strikes target military funeral in Kharkiv; Ukraine accuses Russia of planning ‘provocation’ at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Russia said Wednesday that one person was killed and another 41 injured by Ukrainian fire in the east Ukraine town of Makiivka Overnight residential buildings and a medical facility were damaged by a Russian rocket attack on Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions came under fire from Ukrainian forces across the border in the early hours of Wednesday Ukrainian officials said at least 43 people were wounded in a Russian missile strike on Tuesday which an officer said targeted a military funeral in the north-eastern Kharkiv region The strike hit a parking lot outside a residential building in the town of around 28,000 people Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported Wednesday that the website and mobile app of the Russian railways network has been subjected to “a massive hacker attack” Yelena Milashina, the prominent journalist for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, who was brutally beaten in Chechnya yesterday The Ukraine government accused Russia on Tuesday of planning a “provocation” at the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant while Russia claimed that Kyiv was planning to “attack” the facility Fears over the safety risks for the nuclear plant have been constant throughout Russia’s invasion but increased in early June after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam the source of cooling water for its reactors Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that “objects resembling explosives” had been placed on the roof of several power units “perhaps to simulate an attack” He added: “The world sees – can’t but see – that the only source of danger to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Russia and no one else.” Russia sees no basis for renewing the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday, less than two weeks before the expiration of the agreement, which has allowed grain to be shipped out of Black Sea ports despite the war in Ukraine The ministry said in a statement Russia was doing everything so that all ships covered by the deal could leave the Black Sea before it expires on 17 July Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday that Ukraine launched a drone attack on the Russian capital and its region temporarily disrupting flight operations at the Vnukovo airport the attacks have been repelled by air defence forces,” Sobyanin said on Telegram “All detected drones have been eliminated” There were no casualties or injured reported Vladimir Putin has said that Russia remains “united as never before” in the wake of the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and claimed the country continued to flourish in the face of heavy western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine In an address from the Kremlin to a virtual gathering of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) a group founded by Russia and China to counter western influence the Russian president attempted to rebuff any suggestion that he had been weakened by last week’s chaotic but short-lived rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin A funeral service has taken place in Kyiv for the celebrated writer Victoria Amelina she died from injuries sustained when a Russian missile attack struck a pizza restaurant in the eastern town of Kramatorsk Oleksiy Danilov has described recent days of battle as “fruitful” for Ukraine in terms of destroying the resources of the Russian forces the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council described Ukraine as acting “calmly” and “wisely’ in its counteroffensive The World Bank is helping Ukraine's farmers access affordable credit to keep farms operating—vital for the country’s economy and ensuring global food security STAY CURRENT WITH OUR LATEST DATA & INSIGHTS This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser. To learn more about cookies, click here. Armstrong Williams takes on the news of the week and asks the questions you want answered. Don’t miss our weekly town hall. Dutch prosecutors demand life sentences for downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by MIKE CORDER | Associated Press SCHIPHOL, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday demanded life sentences for four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 Prosecutors said the four recklessly used a Russian missile to bring down the passenger jet, killing all 298 passengers and crew Public prosecutor Manon Ridderbeks made the sentence demand at the end of a three-day presentation of evidence Sergey Dubinskiy and Igor Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko who were separatist rebels fighting Ukrainian government forces in 2014 of forming a team that aimed to bring down Ukrainian planes using a missile system trucked in from a Russian military base Prosecutor Thijs Berger told judges earlier Wednesday that it's legally irrelevant that the suspects wanted to shoot down military and not civilian aircraft "Legally speaking they were ordinary citizens they were not allowed to commit any violence," he said The trial is being held in the Netherlands at a high security courtroom near Schiphol Airport because nearly 200 of those on board were Dutch citizens Wednesday's sentence demands came amid soaring tensions between Moscow and the West over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has drawn fears of an invasion Russia has denied plans to attack its neighbor who is the only suspect who is represented in court will make their presentation to judges in March Verdicts aren't expected until September next year at the earliest Prosecutors had spent the previous two days explaining in meticulous detail the indictment and evidence backing it up to the panel of judges Prosecutors plotted in detail the route they say the Buk missile took to and from the launch site in an agricultural field near the village of Pervomaiskyi photos and video and intercepted phone calls and mobile phone location data They also discussed the forensic evidence gathered from the wreckage and bodies of victims that were recovered from eastern Ukraine and returned to the Netherlands for examination judges visited a hangar on a Dutch military airbase where the wreckage is stored to view the mangled wreckage fragments The prosecutors concluded that the plane was shot down by a Buk missile belonging to the Russian 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile Bridade that was driven to the launch location "by orders of and under guidance of the suspects." The prosecutors also cited tapped conversations between Dubinski and Kharchenko discussing shooting down what they initially thought was a Ukrainian war plane Prosecutors argue that Girkin and Dubinskiy were senior separatist rebels while Pulatov and Kharchenko were their direct subordinates "Together they are responsible for the deployment of the Buk telar used to shoot down flight MH17," prosecutors said in a written summary of their arguments by Kateryna Denisova, The Kyiv Independent news deskDeputies vote during the meeting in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on October 6 (Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)The Parliamentary Committee on Regional Development supported the renaming of seven more cities and 44 villages whose names do not meet the standards of the Ukrainian language or refer to Russian or Soviet names lawmaker Roman Lozynskyi wrote on X on April 4 Ukraine's parliament outlawed most Soviet and communist symbols and monuments as part of a decommunization process in 2015 which had received new names under the Soviet authorities were renamed to reflect their Ukrainian identity President Volodymyr Zelensky then signed a law in April 2023 that banned naming geographic sites in Ukraine after Russian figures or historical events in response to the Russian invasion The cities to be renamed include Krasnohrad in Kharkiv Oblast whose name refers to the color red in Russian was called Kostyantynohrad until it was renamed by the Bolsheviks in 1922 The parliamentary committee proposed to change the name to Berestyn a reference to Soviet General Nikolai Vatutin Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast which was occupied by Russia in the summer of 2022 will be changed to Siverskodonetsk to reflect the Ukrainian spelling of the city Pervomaisk in Luhansk Oblast and Pervomaiskyi in Kharkiv Oblast should be renamed Sokolohirsk and Zlatopil Pershotravensk in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to Shakhtarske and the city of Druzhba in Sumy Oblast to Zhuravske The decision still requires final approval by Ukraine's Parliament The adversary hit a residential neighborhood damaging a high-rise building and residents’ cars Seven cars were damaged near the place of arrival Head of the Investigation Department of the Kharkiv Regional Police According to updated data by Kharkiv RMA 43 people have been wounded due to the attack on Pervomaiskyi The condition of the victims is moderate to light “According to the investigation, on July 4, at about 13:30, the Russian military fired a missile at a residential neighborhood in Pervomaiskyi. According to preliminary data, it was an Iskander missile. The Russian munition hit near a multi-story building,” the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office reported. Lozova District Prosecutor’s Office of Kharkiv Region has launched a pre-trial investigation into violating the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). At that time, a funeral ceremony was held in the city center for soldier Oleh Fadeenko, call sign Malysh, who died in the battles for Bakhmut. He had been fighting to liberate the Kharkiv region from the full-scale invasion’s first days. Later, he participated in the battles for Bakhmut as a reconnaissance platoon commander in the 3rd Separate Special Forces Brigade and conducted many successful offensive and reconnaissance operations. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Key developments on July 4: President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that Russia is "preparing a provocation" at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Russian forces placed explosives on the roof of two power units The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported in its evening update that Russian troops are preparing a strike "in the near future." "Their detonation should not damage power units but may create a picture of shelling by Ukraine's military," the General Staff said an adviser to the head of Russia's nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom claimed that "Ukraine is going to attack" the nuclear power plant with "precision weapons and kamikaze drones" overnight on July 5 according to the Russian state-controlled agencies Karchaa claimed Ukraine intended to hit the plant with a Tochka "with a warhead filled with radioactive waste." Russia has regularly blamed Ukraine for attacks it itself has perpetrated "Now the whole world must realize that common security depends entirely on global attention to the occupiers' actions at the station," said Zelensky Amid the situation around the nuclear plant, Ukraine's Health Ministry issued recommendations on how to behave in a contaminated zone Yet, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, in his press statement on July 4 didn't mention any new installations on the power units' rooftops nor the possible provocation by the Russian forces Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant again lost connection to its main external power line overnight on July 4 Ukraine's state nuclear energy agency Energoatom reported The biggest nuclear power plant in Europe, located in the occupied city of Enerhodar, switched to the only available 330 kilovolt (kV) backup power line, which was recently reconnected after being inactive since March 1 the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant relied exclusively on the only main power line for external electricity needed for reactor cooling and other critical functions Before the Russian occupation in March 2022 the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant had six backup lines and four main lines of 750 kV Europe's largest nuclear power plant has been experiencing major off-site power problems since Russia unleashed its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and effectively occupied the power plant Russian forces have been using the nuclear plant as a military base to launch attacks against Ukrainian-controlled territory across the Dnipro River Due to Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure, the plant has been fully disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid several times On June 20, Zelensky said that Moscow was considering a terrorist attack on the nuclear power plant through radiation leakage The Russian missile strike on a residential area in Pervomaiskyi, Kharkiv Oblast, injured 43 civilians, including 12 children, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on July 4 The State Emergency Service reported that two infants were among the injured The medics stabilized the 10-month-old boy who was hospitalized in the intensive care unit following the attack According to the local authorities and emergency services other children got shrapnel wounds after the Russian missile attack damaged high-rise buildings and cars in Pervomaiskyi The attack occurred at 1:35 p.m. local time, the governor said located 86 kilometers south of the regional capital sits on the railway connecting Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia General Prosecutor Andriy Kostin reported that Russian forces struck the town with Iskander missiles The General Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into violations of the laws and customs of war Russian forces used the Iskander missiles to attack Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast on June 27, killing 13 people and injuring 60 more. Ukrainian writer and war crimes researcher Victoria Amelina died on July 1 after sustaining injuries in that missile strike In addition, Russian forces launched over 20 loitering munitions to attack Ukraine over the past day. The Air Force downed 20 attack drones and six reconnaissance drones However, a drone hit Sumy, killing three and injuring 21 civilians, according to the local authorities Ukrainian forces advanced in southern and eastern directions The Tavria military command spokesman Valerii Shershen said Ukrainian troops have advanced up to two kilometers in the Berdiansk direction Shershen also reported that Ukrainian forces are "solidifying the newly taken positions," conducting aerial reconnaissance and shelling the Russian positions in the area Russian forces are attempting offensive operations in the Rivnopil sector in Donetsk Oblast while trying to repel Ukraine's advance in the southern direction Ukrainian forces also advanced on the southern flank of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar told national television on July 4 Russian forces are "deploying all their forces" to stop the Ukrainian advance in the south and in the east Russian forces are conducting a "powerful offensive" in the Lyman where they established "three-tiered staggered defense" lines Over the past week, the Ukrainian forces have liberated 28.4 square kilometers in the south and nine square kilometers in the east, Maliar reported on July 3 Alexander Khrebet is a reporter with the Kyiv Independent alleged abuse of power in the country’s military leadership and reports on the Russian-occupied territories Alexander is the European Press Prize 2023 winner the #AllForJan Award 2023 winner and Ukraine's 2022 National Investigative Journalism Award finalist His was published in the Washington Times and Atlantic Council Nearly 300,000 cases were registered last year but victims often prefer to keep quiet where servicemen are involved The police told her about a 30-year-old man who had recently returned from the frontline in Kharkiv and attacked his mother who was now worried about his violent and angry behaviour He had had a university education and was “very kind and loved his girlfriend” but that changed after he had been sent to the frontline in Kharkiv Women are less likely to complain when it [domestic violence] involves war veteransIvanna Kovalchuk“He became angry a lot started listening to rock music and fought with his girlfriend who trained as a criminologist before the war says such calls for help from law enforcement and women are becoming increasingly common With Russia’s war against Ukraine in its third year many women in the country are now fighting their own battle as the number of domestic violence cases increases significantly According to Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry, police registered more than 291,000 cases of domestic violence across the country in 2023 – a 20% increase on the previous year Reported cases are the ‘tip of the iceberg’ Photograph: Anadolu/GettyExperts and social workers expect these figures to rise again in 2024 there was a 56% increase in complaints of domestic violence that were registered as criminal offences in Ukraine The reported cases are just “the tip of the iceberg” says Massimo Diana “Numbers at times do not tell the full story,” he says “[They] are only indicative of the number of filed reports We need to put the numbers into the larger context to understand the problem.” Diana says gender-based violence and domestic violence were “well-known secrets” in the country even before the war but there was a higher risk with wartime stress factors poverty and the psychological stress of shelling and missile attacks the unfortunate truth is that women and girls will always pay the heavier price,” says Diana many women find themselves managing their household alone and often isolated from the support of their families and communities Free newsletterGet a different world view with a roundup of the best news “Some even apologise if they do because they feel that it might not be an appropriate time or that their personal situation is not comparable to the war in the country,” she says. Diana agrees. “In an environment that was inherently patriarchal from the beginning, even before the war, [with] a man who has been on the frontline and is a hero, but has become violent, there’s a problem with reporting. “Women often question themselves: ‘how can I complain about anything when my husband, father, son, brother or friend are on the frontlines dying?’,” he says. “We’ve been hearing this a lot.” Read moreReferring to rising cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among returning veterans Diana says the perpetrators of the violence were also “victims of the brutality of war” saying: “Our boys are returning from the battles changed Diana says he has witnessed similar developments in other conflict-affected societies in Bosnia [and] we’re still dealing with the consequences of our late action in recognising the impact [on women] “We need to work with the households where these combatants are returning to help prepare them on how to deal with the consequences of war Show Comments Load More Exclusive: Another problem with the new report blaming Russia for the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shoot-down is the bizarre route that the investigators say the Buk missile battery took the West’s mainstream media is embracing the new allegations implicating Russia in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 but there are key evidentiary and logical gaps including the presumed route followed by the supposed Buk missile convoy According to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which while “led” by the Dutch was guided by the Ukrainian SBU intelligence service the Russians delivered the Buk anti-missile battery at a border crossing about 30 miles southeast of Luhansk on the night of July 16-17 there would have been an easy and logical route to the JIT’s claimed firing site Screen shot from the Joint Investigation Team’s video report citing where a Russian Buk missile battery allegedly crossed into eastern Ukraine The convoy would have followed one of two roads west to H21 and then taken H21 southwest to the area around Snizhne before getting onto a back road to Pervomaiskyi where the JIT says the launch occurred Instead, according to the JIT account the convoy took a strange and circuitous route which incidentally offered another easy route south to Snizhne the convoy proceeded southwest to the city of Donetsk stopping there before turning east on H21 passing through a number of towns on the way to Snizhne especially given the extreme sensitivity of the Russians providing a powerful anti-aircraft missile battery to the rebels an operation that would call for the utmost secrecy and care but the eventual positioning of the Buk system in the remote town of Pervomaiskyi makes little military sense the presumed purpose of the Russians taking such a huge risk of supplying a Buk system was to protect rebel troops from Ukrainian military aircraft firing from heights beyond the range of shoulder-fired MANPADs So why would the Russians position the Buk battery in the south far from the frontlines of the heaviest fighting which was occurring in the north and then have the crew shoot down a commercial airliner when there were no military aircraft in the area you have to swallow a large dose of credulity plus assume that the Russians are extremely incompetent so incompetent that they would send a highly secret operation on a wild ride across the eastern Ukrainian countryside ignoring easy routes to the target location (only about 70 miles from the Russian border) in favor of a route more than twice as long (about 150 miles) while passing through heavily populated areas where the convoy could be easily photographed the Russians (or their rebel allies) would have placed the Buk system in a spot with marginal if any military value misidentify a commercial airliner as some kind of military aircraft and – with a sudden burst of efficiency and competence – shoot it down The JIT’s claim about the exfiltration of the remaining Buks has similar problems of logic The JIT asserts that rather than take the most direct (and most discreet) route back to Russia by heading east the missile battery supposedly traveled north to Luhansk before crossing back into Russia I’m told the Russian government did fear that somehow one of its field operatives might have been responsible and conducted an intensive investigation concluding that all its Buk missiles were accounted for Secretary of State John Kerry waits for Russian President Vladimir Putin in a meeting room at the Kremlin in Moscow I was also told that at least some CIA analysts shared the doubts about Russia’s guilt and came to believe that the MH-17 shoot-down was the work of a rogue and out-of-control Ukrainian team with the possible hope that the airliner was a Russian government plane returning President Vladimir Putin from South America Another fallacy of the JIT’s report is to assume that in July 2014 there were fixed lines of control between the Ukrainian government and the eastern Ukrainian rebels something like the trenches of World War I the fluidity of the battle lines – and Ukraine’s ability to penetrate deep into rebel “territory” – was underscored by one of the SBU’s telephone intercepts published by the JIT on Wednesday According to the JIT, the conversation revealed a Ukrainian military convoy passing through the town of Sabivka possibly Luhansk’s airport south of the city it shows that armed Ukrainian convoys could move almost at will across much of rebel “territory.” And that would suggest that the assumption that the Buk missile must have been fired by Russians or Russian rebels because the firing location was inside rebel “territory” is suspect. According to Dutch intelligence  (which really means NATO intelligence) the Ukrainians had several high-powered anti-aircraft missile systems in eastern Ukraine on July 17 The JIT report makes no effort to explain where those Ukrainian Buks were positioned presumably because Ukraine was part of the JIT investigation and thus had the right to veto the release of any information Australians and others toward blaming the Russians Ukraine’s SBU was never going to allow evidence that would put the spotlight on Ukraine the JIT made it difficult for the public to focus on the logical inconsistencies in the findings JIT enhanced its presentation by mixing in real-looking computer graphics with images found on social media [For more on this topic, see Consortiumnews.com’s “Troubling Gaps in New MH-17 Report.”] Tags: Most likely the commander of a Ukrainian BUK missile battery who was on alert for Russian planes violating Ukrainian airspace The Ukrainian government was protesting about Russian planes leading up to the shooting down of the airliner Then they suddenly went silent over the issue The theory that the Russians handed a complex missile system like the BUK to rebels is as absurd as the idea that the US would give the Patriot system to the Free Syrian Army It takes a highly trained crew to operate that kind of system The Russians would not want untrained people operating such a missile system on their border as it would be a danger to their planes The Ukrainian army had experience with a poorly trained missile crew shooting down an airliner by accident That was before they had mass desertions following the coup that could led to a shortage of trained missile crews willing to fight in Eastern Ukraine Occam’s Razor suggests it was most likely a poorly trained Ukrainian missile crew on high alert that made a mistake A neutral investigation needs to look at this A simple matter of fact that can be checked is the shrapnel from modern BUKs Parry should call Seymour Hersh and ask him do an expose The neocons are trying to destroy his street cred To me it is vitally important to know where Putin’s plane was in relation to MH17 and the launch site There must have been a significant reason for shooting down the plane ie get Putin on the one side or embarrass the Russians and the rebels on the other To me the latter is the weakest argument but you can’t toss it out There must be some factual info somewhere to know Putin’s flight path was it just assumed that it was Putin’s plane if that was in fact the motive Bellingcat is taking a victory lap with all the media attention after the Joint Investigation Team press conference indirectly acknowledging that Bellingcat provided “the bulk of the presentation” by the JIT: the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) held a press conference in which they presented evidence surrounding the downing of Flight MH17 the JIT made its intent clear: the weapon type and launch site would be announced and provided new evidence that corroborates the findings of Bellingcat since its report ‘Origins of the Separatists’ Buk’ in November 2014 “While many of the revelations of the September 28 press conference confirmed previous claims made on this site and from other open source investigators the bulk of the presentation confirmed the most significant claims of the November 2014 report ‘Origin of the Separatists’ Buk’ and subsequent reports the JIT confirmed that a Russian-made Buk missile was responsible for the downing of MH17.” https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2016/09/30/revelations-confirmations-mh17-jit-press-conference/ The JIT’s entirely predictable rubber-stamp “confirmation” of the “findings of Bellingcat” was padded with a smattering of “revelations” in the form of superfluous visual materials and audio recordings designed to “corroborate” the “Major Bellingcat Investigations into the Downing of MH17” Effort now shifts to the purchase of “witnesses” for the pending criminal case Dutch National Prosecution Office spokesman Wim de Bruin has said that the testimony of “at least one” separatist fighter in Ukraine has been procured Does anyone have any idea on where Putin’s plane was at this time as pertains to the missile launching site The major airlines had their planes avoiding the area but not Malaysian Airlines But I’m missing the witnesses (tens or maybe hundreds) from the area who unilaterally speak of two fighter jets in the very area You can find it on youtube either by searching mh17 bbc russia or graham phillips mh17 or mh17 billy six To me this is the most obvious flaw of the JIT report Also please look closely on supplied photos of “So-called Russian BUK from Kurks” in report Take a look on original picture of BUK from Kurks and picture from supposed BUK in Ukraine I find it very painful to read Parry’s articles and the comments here without being able to at least hope that these facts (including the lack of them) arguments will be put together in a book (since articles are more easily ignored) that should be published as soon as possible I understand that the commenters here may want to remain anonymous but surely that is no hindrance since What is important is a clear presentation of the facts and debunking where necessary of the JIT report but apparently there is a lot more that could be said We’ve had over two years of “government assessment” fiction from the U.S A terse 16 July 2016 press statement by the State Department “Marking the Second Anniversary of the Shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17” emphasizes that “Our own assessment has not changed – the missile was fired from territory controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.” The statement elaborates that “The United States continues to work with the Joint Investigation Team and law enforcement authorities We have full confidence that these professionals are conducting an impartial and comprehensive investigation that will form the basis of an independent prosecution to bring the perpetrators of this tragedy to justice.” The State Department’s “full confidence” extends to the lawsuit lodged last month at the European Court of Human Rights by “friendly-faced lawyer” Jerry Skinner A dramatic 17 July 2016 article by UK Telegraph online informs us that the American lawyer Skinner “speaks selectively to the media only talking to The Sunday Telegraph after a recommendation from his friend Eliot Higgins founder of investigative journalism site Bellingcat is famous for his use of open source intelligence to expose war crimes around the world the American lawyer has been able to piece together the path of a launcher from Russia’s 53rd Missile Brigade into Ukraine before MH17 was shot down and then back to Russia.” and comprehensive investigation” apparently makes it an open and shut case for Skinner Skinner was able to “piece together” the story that Higgins pieced together The Telegraph informs us that “this evidence that will form the backbone of [Skinner’s] legal assault on the Kremlin – demanding $10 million from Moscow for each victim President Putin is named as personally responsible.” The Telegraph additionally informs us that “the Kremlin’s most high-profile adversary” is “a deeply religious man” Skinner himself informs us that “My wife prays for me” The Atlantic Council partnered with Open Russia and Bellingcat for an exclusive live town hall from Open Russia Club in London to dramatize “the unsolved crime of our age” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Yn3ckduQY The propaganda drive fueled by Bellingcat is designed to fabricate a body of “evidence” to compel a “Lockerbee moment” Bellingcat is a MI6 and Soros funded asset like the White helmets in Syria This attack on Putin and Russia conforms to tried and true programs in the past to get a war going in the future against Russia: Gaddafi and Libya by Clinton and Obama – among many others Vilify the enemy with propaganda consisting of lies fear mongering and use of double standards Get the mainstream media on board to persuade an ill-informed and quiescent public All three in place for Hillary to push the button http://cluborlov.blogspot.be/2016/08/a-thousand-balls-of-flame.html the overall return journey was very circuitous but the weirdest part of it is probably its journey through Luhansk (10:20 in the same Youtube video) there’s the idea of the missile system being driven uncovered about twelve hours after it had killed hundreds of civilian passengers and had been publicly identified by Kiev as a Buk if the purpose of the trip is to hide the Buk There’s also the fact that that route would have taken the Buk through an area that the Ukrainian government was able to freely move through This bizarre road trip story on its own is enough to cast serious doubt on the JIT’s credibility as serious investigators “Lawyers and analysts observing the presentation have expressed doubt that the secret Ukrainian and American government evidence can be admissible in court On questioning by a sceptical Dutch journalist Westerbeke acknowledged that all the telephone intercepts and wiretaps reported as evidence of Russian involvement in the reported missile operation originated from the Ukrainian secret service and purported witnesses presented at today’s JIT session have all appeared publicly before; much of it already discredited as fakes the JIT revealed it has confirmed only two pieces of warhead shrapnel from a BUK missile warhead in the MH17 the Dutch Safety Board and the JIT have been claiming there were four pieces of shrapnel to substantiate the alleged BUK missile firing three of them of a bow-tie or butterfly shape “The JIT briefing in The Netherlands today did not respond to the Utyos-T data ‘They have not yet been handed over and not investigated yet’ He dismissed the Russian Defence Ministry claim that no missile firing had been detected from the Snizhne area ‘is incorrect.’ According to Westerbeke ‘we are not making any statements about Russia as a country or about Russians.'” http://johnhelmer.net/?p=16440 Did the Dutch get another “WW2 safekeeping” gold repatriation shipment from the US? Coincident to the first Dutch “report”, payment was in the order of 122.5-tonnes. https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/koos-jansen/the-netherlands-has-repatriated-122-5t-gold-from-us/ And more than passing odd is that 122 tonnes is EXACTLY the same amount as reputedly held in Canadian “safekeeping” Dutch reserves And now that Canada has virtually zero gold reserves left of it’s own (and selling off it’s silver like crazy for US$ paper notes it is still holding 122 tonnes of Dutch gold Maybe US Gold Reserves really are empty… they have not been somewhat inspected let alone fully audited since before the 1930’s The holes in the MH17 wreckage tell another story entirely… no BUK missile shrapnel holes particularly 30mm armour piercing and explosive rounds in the cockpit area From at least one so-equipped Ukraine military SU-24 which was witnessed leaving fully armed and returning without said rockets The military plane that the locals (interviewed shortly after by a BBC local-affiliate news crew) heard and saw in proximity to MH17 before it exploded when the US has no legal standing to be militarily or covertly in Syria at all Fast-boat John just annoyed that the Syrian/Russian air forces bombed the illegal “information centre” the US/Saudi/Qatar/et.al had set up in Aleppo to feed military intelligence to the “moderate terrorists” the US supports Obama must be some kind of desperate to get WW3 with Russia/China started before the election now that it is apparent Clinton will lose to Trump That way the election/Presidential Inauguration can be suspended for the duration of the war… but as far as I can remember of all accounts I’ve studied in this matter the MH-17 flew on the fatal day a much more northern route than what was usual It was directed there by the Ukrainian air traffic control and thus the plane flew over the actual war zone I remember seeing these different routes at least on a BBC website It must be easy to establish which person in the Kiev air traffic control gave the order to this plane to fly an unusual route Now how could the Russians (or the rebels) know where exactly the plane would be at what time They needed to place the missile system near enough the route of the plane in good time Or was the air over the war zone full of civilian and military planes of various nationalities AND MH17 was ordered to a lower flight path by Kiev Air Control A full function BUK can easily reach standard airliner cruising height so even if the Ukie BUK batteries were supposed to “accidentally” shoot down MH17 But an older Ukie SU-24 with air-air rocket and with 30mm armour/explosive round payload can’t The SU24 can get high enough long enough to get visual contact and fire the rockets at an upward angle to hit a plane above it’s flight ceiling There used to be youtube vid of an experienced pilot taking an SU24 to that height An O2 bottle and a warm flight suit can keep the pilot able to function for the short time required to fire rockets at above “official ceiling” heights but the cockpit is not sealed/heated for sustained high altitude flight As MH17 spiraled down after the initial rocket hit (an engine or wing it is conjectured) killing the pilots and blowing the front off MH17 like the US had full spectrum surveillance over all of the Ukraine since at least the Maidan but only released the civilian-air-space radar which showed a second plane near MH17 But the US/Dutch prefer to quote Bellingcat… You say how would they know where MH17 would be at this particular momemnt It was a comercial flight and posted for all to see but the theory of Ukraine shot it down because they thought it was Putin’s plane seems a little far fetched due to what leader of a major country posts his flight route Not only is it too secret but changes on a regular basis for security purposes The animosity that is being engendered towards Russia in the United States taking President Putin as a symbol of all Russia This editorial is a perfect and fearful example: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/opinion/vladimir-putins-outlaw-state.html?ref=opinion Putin’s behavior in Ukraine and Syria violates not only rules designed to promote peace but common human decency denn es ist nicht die Aufgabe einer Propaganda ihre Aufgabe ist zum Erfolge zu führen.” “…that propaganda is good that has the desired results and that propaganda is bad that does not lead to the desired results for the task of propaganda is not to be clever Erkenntnis und Propaganda (Knowledge and Propaganda) speech in 1928 to an audience of Nazi party members at the so-called “Hochschule für Politik” in Berlin Doob was the Sterling Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University He was a pioneering figure in the fields of cognitive and social psychology Doob’s 1934 Harvard PhD dissertation Doob served as Director of Overseas Intelligence for the Office of War Information in World War II “Goebbels’ Principles of Propaganda” was published in the Public Opinion Quarterly an academic journal published by Oxford University Press for the American Association for Public Opinion Research https://istifhane.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/goebbels.pdf Doob’s article is required reading for understanding how political propaganda functions in today’s military-industrial-media complex “To create preconditions for an open armed conflict with Russia Washington has launched a massive propaganda campaign aimed at discrediting Moscow at every juncture It’s enough to remember the so-called ‘doping scandal’ and the ‘revelations’ that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made about the alleged presence of more than 30,000 Russian soldiers and hundreds of tanks in eastern Ukraine And no matter how ridiculous and unfounded such allegations may be as if it had no means to track a couple hundreds tanks anywhere on the face of the Earth and then provide irrefutable evidence of it to the public we hear repeated accusations about Moscow’s alleged involvement in the downing of the Malaysian Boeing MH-17 over Donbass and many others one can’t help but remember the genius of Nazi propaganda – Joseph Goebbels – who swayed public perception with the continuous repetition of transparent lies up to and including the day of the Nazi invasion of Russia.” Curiously the JIT claim that they have reviewed the report and evidence submitted by the US and that this evidence supports JIT conclusions Parry and VIPS alluded in this and previos articles that according to their sources the CIA has the evidence to the contrary Any insights on what was presented to JIT by the US https://www.om.nl/onderwerpen/mh17-vliegramp/presentaties/presentation-joint/ “… conclusion is supported by the material which the investigation team recently obtained from the United States and the European Space Agency The Dutch Military Intelligence Service (MIVD) and the (Dutch) National Public Prosecutor on Terrorism have been able to view the underlying state-secret (intelligence) material and based on that information and the explanation provided they support the fact that this conclusion is drawn The JIT claims that they received the report and reviewed the underlying data (state secret) I agree that it would great to know what these are Parry or VIPS with their connections can shed some light on this topic if there is a US report which is admissible in court unless it is only a US court it is admissible to (where anything pro-regime flies) This reads like a lot of typical regime innuendo without substantiation I should just compare the secrecy around US intelligence on MH17 shotdown with the immediate publishing of the satellite images of the explosion on the Russian Metrojet (they were so keen to show this lapse in security and blame Putin that military secrecy was no consideration at all) What is different between the two satellites involved Why are the satellite images of MH17 classified The rebels allegedly only had a missile launcher It is normally part of a battery with a long distance early warning radar Without a radr system the rebels would have to have launched the missile by eye On the day there was about 4/8 cloud cover and medium altitiude below the aircraft flight path The claimed launch point was also more or less in direct line with the flight path of MH17 That means the effective closing speed would be very high and the sharpnel spread consequently much larger than normal the window opportunity for a launch giving a hit would be minimsed So we have rebels inexperienced infiring a complex missile under the most adverse targetting conditions relying totally on visual contact on a moderately cloudy day against the target Not only do they not blow themselves to pieces they make an apparently ideal hit the first and only time they supposedly used the system If you look at the maker’s specification for the Buk they give about a 90-95% probablity of a hit with a single missile assuming a fully trained crew with full radar detection and targetting control I believe that your got your probability wrong there is no way that a probability of hitting a fast moving passenger jet at around 10 km altitude with a single missile is 90-95% even under the perfect conditions: top trained crew etc It is the inverse – probably around 5-10% But you are absolutely right that BUK requires 4-5 vehicles and a whole unit (10-15) of highly trained people to operate All Bellingcat/JIT videos show only one missile vehicle passing from Russia The standard complement would be one or multiple missile carrier vehicles and one of each of the other vehicles the rebels could have gotten such crew only from Moscow but then such professional crew would be extremely unlikely to miss-identify a target The targeting radar always operates in a three dimensional space where the altitude of the target is always the most important value All three coordinates are read to the commanding officer by the radar operator missing to notice the altitude of the target is simply IMPOSSIBLE a passenger jet moves at a constant altitude and speed completely different to a military jet which usually changes the flight parameters and especially altitude why would the Russians/rebels shoot-down a plane flying at a high altitude towards Russia!! This is why I have been arguing that the shootdown could have been only deliberate either by a military jet or by an anti-aircraft battery The whole Western story of the MH17 shootdown revolves around a BUK from Russia, but such BUK would have had to be operated by a Russian crew, not the rebels. If you would like to get an idea of what the BUK command and control vehicle looks like inside you may peruse this Russian video and skip to 19:50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nI_6dvw17U This video also states something that every air-defense professional knows: it is much easier to shoot-down a plane by another plane then by a missile from the ground JIT has reduced the number of “BUK fragments” they have in possession from four to two the case for the shoot-down by BUK is still soft the military jet is still possible and likely the production of a video by JIT of the delivery of a missile battery from Russia (so suggestive) is the clearest indication that the goal was not investigation then propaganda And where did the JIT get this “strange and circuitous route” https://www.bellingcat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/mh17-two-years-later.pdf The JIT “communicated” with Eliot Higgins and the team of fake “citizen investigative journalists” at Bellingcat the ridiculous seeds planted by the ukrainian SBU are picked up by the bellingcats the geeks “sanitize” them over two years the JIT gives then the official seal of approval to be published by the west’s propaganda outlets ready for mccain and other warmongers to further the conflicts i guess the only scenario that avoids legal responsibility for ukraine is the story of a weapon system to come from outside of the country otherwise it would have pointed to ukraine – regardless of which side shot the boeing down even if some russian mercenaries joined the fight only outside troops could let kiev – in charge of the air space – escape legal indemnity the possibility of the western backed crime must be ruled out at all costs it would completely turn the table for the NATO countries and their narratives on russia to libya and syria the fact that not a single major western news publisher questions the verdict delivered by the main suspect – ukraine – and coup instigator – US – just shows that the mainstreet press has turned into a propaganda machine that the goebbels of the world are eager to use for ‘total war.’ “Though the preliminary report of the Joint Investigation Team is flawed because it ignored the Russian evidence the ultimate reason why MH17 was shot down was because Kiev recklessly allowed civilian air traffic over a war zone The conclusions of the Dutch led investigation into the downing of MH-17 near Donetsk should surprise no one The investigation set itself up to be incomplete from the onset by refusing to examine evidence that the Russian government Keep Consortium News going in the tradition of Bob Parry. Become a Consortium News member! Watch Consortium News Live WINNER OF THE 2017 MARTHA GELLHORN PRIZE FOR JOURNALISM