Malaysian plane crashes on Ukraine-Russia border - live

[David Guyatt]

Slowly evidence of the truth is appearing. Now we can add this small shard to the other accumulated facts.

MH17 crash: Western governments knew risks of Ukraine overflights: report

DateAugust 23, 2015

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Possible Buk missile parts found at MH17 site

Dutch prosecutors say they have found parts that may belong to a Buk missile system among the recovered wreckage of MH17 that was shot down over eastern Ukraine last year.

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Western governments knew the dangers of flying over eastern Ukraine before Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crashed but did nothing about it, German investigative journalists say.
Correctiv, which describes itself as the first non-profit German-language investigative newsroom, has won a partial court victory in its quest to find out what governments knew before the tragedy.
The Administrative Court in Berlin this week partly upheld Correctiv's right to know and ordered the German foreign office to disclose facts the office had withheld.

An armed pro-Russian separatist stands at the crash site last year. Photo: Reuters

Writing on Correctiv's website, David Schraven said its investigation showed the office had detailed information of the dangers of flying over eastern Ukraine several days before MH17 took off.
Ukrainian officials told ambassadors of Western countries at a July 14 briefing last year that Russian tank units had intervened in the conflict. As a result, the Ukrainians said, there had been a dramatic escalation in air combat, according to Schraven's report.
A few hours before the briefing a Ukrainian military plane flying at 6200 meters had been shot down over eastern Ukraine. Only Russian missiles or the Russian air force could be responsible, his report cites the Ukrainians as saying. The separatists would not have had appropriate military equipment.

Eastern Ukrainian man Dima stands in the field where he came across a diver's watch near the wreckage. Photo: Kate Geraghty

Three days later flight MH17 plunged to the ground, killing all 298 on board including 39 people who called Australia home.
But the doomed flight was one of hundreds that crossed the crisis zone that week, with Russian Aeroflot, Singapore Airlines and Ukrainian International Airlines having the most flights. Some airlines, including Qantas, British Airways, Air France and Polish airline LOT, had avoided it for some time. Changing course would result in longer flying times and increase airlines' fuel costs.
The German foreign office has said that civilian flights over eastern Ukraine and their safety were not discussed at the July 14 briefing.

Flowers and mementos placed at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the settlement of Rozspyne in Donetsk. Photo: Reuters

However, Correctiv says it has a copy of a report on the briefing by Dutch diplomat Gerrie Willems that contradicts the office's claim.
Presented in German by Correctiv, the Willems report says the briefing was attended by staff of the embassies of the European Union member states, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Japan.
Although there is no specific mention of civil aviation, the Willems' report refers to the escalation in aerial combat.
"This escalation meant automatically that civil aviation was at risk.
"According to our investigation, the German ambassador to Ukraine, Christof Weil, passed this information on to the foreign office," Schraven wrote.
Correctiv printed a photograph it said was from the Ukrainian President's website that shows Mr Weil at the July 14 briefing.
The German foreign office had refused to release information about the briefing, arguing it had been confidential and that all those attending had acknowledged this.
Correctiv responded by saying that the Ukrainian President's website had published information from the meeting on July 15.
The Administrative Court of Berlin has now ordered the foreign office to tell Correctiv whether Mr Weil did write a report on the briefing and when the office told the Chancellor's Office and the German Defence Ministry about the content of the Weil report.
In addition, the office must reveal when German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was told about the escalation of the war.
"We want to know why thousands of people were at risk and why no warning was issued," Schraven wrote.
"Because that was the duty of the foreign office: to warn the airlines and through them all travellers of the dangers over eastern Ukraine."



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/mh17-crash-w...z3jkewy1oB
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And this damning piece from the enormously respected Ray McGovern:

'Political Hacks' Wrote US Report Linking Russia To Crash Of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17: Ex-CIA Analyst

By Clark Mindock @clarkmindock on August 21 2015 6:31 PM EDT

A bicyclist rides past wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, near Hrabove, a village in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Dec. 15, 2014. Reuters



A U.S. government report implicating Russia in the July 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was created by political writers rather than intelligence analysts, a former CIA analyst-turned-political activist told Russia's Sputnik News. Sputnik is wholly owned by the Russian government, which reportedly backs Ukrainian separatists accused of firing a missile at the plane as it flew near the Russia-Ukraine border.
"What [U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry] offered was a 'government assessment,' which means it was written in the White House, which means it was a political document written by political hacks, and that the intelligence analysts would not sign on to it," Ray McGovern, a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, toldSputnik. McGovern was previously known for implying that President George W. Bush could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York City and Arlington County, Virginia.

Retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern holds a copy of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution as he participates in a news conference held by the whistleblower group ExposeFacts.org at the National Press Club in Washington, April 27, 2015. Reuters
The United States was not the only entity pointing fingers at Russia, however. A group of British investigative journalists in November found what they called "solid information" that the Buk missile system said to have fired the rocket that brought the plane down could be traced back to Russia.
"It seems clear the launcher came from Russia, and the government bears the responsibility for killing hundreds of innocent civilians on MH17," Eliot Higgins, the journalist who led the investigation, said at the time, as Ukraine's KyivPost reported.
Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. The plane, a Boeing 777, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and lost contact with air traffic control about 50 kilometers from the Ukraine-Russia border. The crash occurred during the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and other airlines soon began avoiding that airspace.

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