APFragments of a suspected Russian missile system have been found at the Flight MH17 crash site in Ukraine, according to investigators.
Dutch prosecutors say the parts, possibly from a Buk missile system, “are of particular interest” and could help identify who was behind the crash that killed all 298 people on board.
However, the team say they have not yet proved their “causal connection” with the crash.
The Malaysian Airlines flight crashed on land held by Russian-backed rebels in July 2014.
Ukraine and the west have accused the pro-Russia separatists of shooting down the plane with a surface-to-air missile supplied by Moscow, fired in the belief MH17 was a military plane.
Russia has continually denied responsibility, instead blaming Ukrainian government forces for the attack on the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
ReutersProsecutors have previously said that a missile strike was the most credible explanation for the crash but this is the first time the team have confirmed they have potentially corroborating physical evidence.
According to a spokesman, they will now enlist the help of weapons and forensics experts to further investigate the suspected missile parts.
Fred Westerbeke, a spokesman for the Dutch Prosecutor’s Office, said that seven fragments had been found, which were definitely not part of the aircraft itself.
He said:
We are going to need more investigation to really find out what exactly this is and if it is part of a possible system that took down MH17. If we can establish that, then we can say that it is a breakthrough.
However, even if the prosecutors can confirm the parts are from a missile system, the question still remains of who actually fired the weapon. Even so, hopefully this find can bring us one step closer to the truth!
