Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17: Russian BUK Missile Took Plane Out, Report Says

An emergency services worker photographs debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 18, 2014 in Grabovka, Ukraine. Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

A Russian BUK surface-to-air missile likely took down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 last July, according to a Dutch forensics expert.

A scrap of metal found at the site came from a BUK missile, and it was picked up by a Dutch journalist visiting the village of Hrabove where the plane hit the ground. All 298 people on board the plane died when the plane crashed.

RTL News reported that pieces of shrapnel examined by forensic experts showed that it likely matched components from a BUK anti-aircraft missile system, according to News Ltd. and Reuters.

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“Additional investigation material is welcome, but it is imperative that it can be indisputably shown that there is a relationship between the material and the downed aircraft,” the Dutch Safety Board told the broadcaster.

Russia has argued that the plane was shot down by Ukrainian government forces.

Following the Dutch report, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for an “unbiased and transparent” investigation into Flight MH17.

Recovery workers in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine load debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in Hrabove, Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, four months after the plane was brought down. Sunday's operation is being carried out under the supervision of Dutch investigators and officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The recovered fragments will be loaded onto trains and ferried to the government-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, and the investigation into the cause of the crash is being conducted there and in the Netherlands. AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov

“Attempts at distorting facts, enforcing versions on what could have happened continue to exist, with some based on openly dirty intentions,” Lavrov said Thursday, reported state-run RT.com.

“[There are] some witnesses, who contradict one another, and express things amusing for any specialist. For instance, some wiggling rocket, separating rocket stages, blue clouds of smoke,” he added.

Last week, Reuters reported that villagers in Ukraine “saw a missile flying directly overhead just before a Malaysian airliner was shot out of the sky on July 17 last year, providing the most detailed accounts to date that suggest it was fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels.”

The report added that “the accounts do not conclusively prove the missile launched [from there] was the one that brought down the airliner, because none of the villagers saw it actually being launched,” and it noted: “Nor could they shed light on a contention of officials in Kiev and in Western states, that the BUK missile battery was brought in from Russia and was operated by a Russian crew.”