ST PETERSBURG: President Vladimir Putin yesterday denied that a Russian army missile had brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, rebuffing Dutch investigators who concluded that a Russian missile system was used in the attack.
The Netherlands said yesterday that it held the Russian state responsible, and a Dutch Cabinet statement said a “possible” next step would be presenting the case to an international court, adding Australia shared its assessment of Russia’s role.
Putin, when asked at an economic forum in St Petersburg whether a Russian army missile was involved, said: “Of course not.”
Putin said that Moscow could not fully trust Dutch findings about the incident because Moscow had not been involved in the investigation.