Ill-fated Malaysian Airlines plane downed by missile sourced from Russia, say investigators

KIEV, Ukraine - The surface-to-air missile that downed a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014 killing all 298 people on board, came from Russia and was fired from a territory controlled by pro-Moscow separatists, a Netherlands-led investigation team said on Wednesday.

The Boeing 777 Flight MH17 had broken apart mid-air between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur in July 2014.

"Based on the criminal investigation, we have concluded that flight MH17 was downed by a Buk missile of the series 9M83 that came from the territory of the Russian Federation," chief Dutch police investigator Wilbert Paulissen said, addressing a press conference. 

The missile launcher was later taken back to Russia, he said.

The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprises prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine.

An inquiry by the Dutch Safety Board in 2015 had found that a Russian-made Buk missile struck the plane but did not comment where it was fired from.

Russia has outrightly rejected the conclusions, dubbing them "extremely political" and asserting that Buk missiles "never shot down" the plane.

"This is of course a provocative statement... it has nothing to do with investigating the tragedy that took away the lives of so many people," said Leonid Slutsky, head of the parliamentary committee for the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent State).

"These conclusions seek to achieve only one objective - to further marginalise the image of Russia in the global political and information space," he added.

Earlier this week, Russia said it had radar data indicating that the missile was not fired from rebel-held territory.

Prosecutors maintained that the launch site was pinpointed by "many witnesses.”

"There is a need to establish who gave the order to move the missile launcher into eastern Ukraine,” and where the order for it to be fired emanated from, the investigators added.

Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has called for strict action against those responsible for the downing of the plane. 

“The Joint Investigation Team has concluded that MH17 was downed by a Russian-made missile and it was fired from rebel-controlled territory (in Ukraine). 

Based on the two findings, Malaysia wants firm action to be taken. We have promised that those who were responsible for the downing of the aircraft will be brought to justice,” he told the Malaysian media.

Malaysia will call for a meeting with the other nations that also lost their citizens in the tragedy, he said.