RIGA, July 28 (RIA Novosti) – Militia in the Donetsk People’s Republic hopes that probe into the Boeing crash in eastern Ukraine will be investigated by the international commission and involve Russian representatives, a militia commander said Monday.
“This tragedy is to be investigated by independent experts and an independent commission. It is important that western countries do not take decisions under Kiev’s pressure,” Miroslav Rudenko told Latvia’s Baltkom radio station.
“It is important that the investigation involves the Russian side, which is currently being slapped with accusations. Otherwise, this investigation can be hardly considered as objective,” Rudenko said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier Monday that the investigation into the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine casts doubt upon US claims.
Lavrov said that Kiev has so far failed to provide the recorded conversations between Ukrainian air traffic control and MH17 flight. Media reports said earlier that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) confiscated tapes of conversations between Ukrainian air traffic controllers and the crew of the plane.
A Ukrainian government source told RIA Novosti last week the SBU could hand over the MH17 recordings to US analysts in Kiev.
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed near Donetsk on July 17. All 298 people on board, including 283 passengers and 15 crew members died.
Ukrainian authorities claim independence supporters shot down the plane, whereas the latter say they do not have necessary equipment to hit a target flying at that height.
The West suggests the conditions for the downing of the plane were created by Russia as it allegedly supplied independence supporters in Ukraine’s east with weapons.
Moscow has repeatedly warned against making hasty conclusions and politicized statements related to the crash and called for an impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
