Russians were operating a Buk missile launcher seen in the area where the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet MH17 was shot down, eyewitnesses have told BBC Panorama.
“Three eyewitnesses, all civilians, separately told Panorama that they saw a missile-launcher in rebel-held territory a few hours before the Boeing jet was hit,” reads the report.
One eyewitness saw the missile-launcher roll off a low-loader at Snizhne, around ten miles from the crash site, at around 13.30 local time.
“We just saw it being offloaded and when the Buk started its engine the exhaust smoke filled the whole town square,” he said.
The eyewitness told the BBC that the crew struck him as Russian soldiers: “Well-disciplined, unlike the rebels, and not wearing the standard Ukrainian camouflage uniform sported by government and rebel troops alike… They had pure Russian accents. They say the letter ‘g’ differently to us.”
“Well disciplined, unlike the militias, and they were wearing standard camouflage uniforms Ukrainian army, which carry both government forces and separatists … They spoke perfect Russian language. They pronounce” r “differently” – said he said.
His testimony was confirmed by a second eyewitness, who added that an officer in a military jeep escorting the Buk spoke with a Muscovite accent.
Earlier, Malaysian investigators have already stated that the aircraft destroyed by pro-Russian terrorists on July 17 had been hit by a surface-to-air missing launched from the rebel-held territory.
As reported, the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down in Donetsk region on July 17. There were 298 people, including 192 Dutch nationals, 38 Australians and 43 Malaysians, on board the jet. All passengers and crew members were killed.