Russia: Don’t blame us for MH17

PETALING JAYA: The Russian government today attempted to allay the frustration of the MH17 victims’ families by stressing that they understood the anger they faced.
Its ambassador to Malaysia, Lyudmila Vorobyeva, said it was understandable, although wrong to assign blame to Russia in light of the crash in Ukraine which is in an area controlled by a separatist group.
“Of course, they’re wrong…(but) it’s natural and psychologically understandable … we sympathise so much, and from my side, there are no words to describe, not only as an ambassador, but also as a human being, as a mother. I cannot even describe how sorry I am regarding this tragedy.
“We understand there’s a psychological anger, you’re angry, you want to blame someone for this loss and it’s an easy solution to channel your anger to one person who is much ‘demonised’ by (the) mainstream Western media. We do understand the feelings (of the victims’ next-of-kin) but those are feelings, those are not facts, no tangible evidence has been provided that the rebels have shot this plane,” Vorobyeva told a news conference at the embassy here on Jalan Ampang.
She also dismissed the audio recordings (between the separatists) and pictures of the BUK surface-to-air-missile believed to have been launched by a separatist group in Ukraine which has been circulated to the media for the past six days, but did not speculate further reasons behind this attempt or who was behind it.
“Yes, I can confirm that it is a fake. It has been analysed by experts (where) the audio recordings are from a different time period (where) pieces of conversation recorded even before 17th July. It is fake,” she said, adding the indicator is a billboard in the area which allegedly had the words “controlled by the armed forces of Kiev”.
“It (the BUK) is a system that belongs to the Ukrainian military,” she said, while stressing the separatists did not have the military capability to shoot down MH17.
“If you ask me, I’m convinced that there’s no way they could have done it. They don’t have the means to do it,” she said.
She said the rebels were only armed with a “small portable air defence system” (shoulder mounted) that can shoot up to only 5km.
“I am not a military expert, but BUK missile system is very sophisticated that you need special training to operate it.
“The rebels did not have the BUK or qualification to operate it, but the Ukrainian military have it,” she said in response to a query on the US intelligence claims that there was evidence to indicate that the jetliner was shot down with a surface-to-air missile from an area controlled by “Russian-backed” separatists in Ukraine.
She added there was no Russian military presence in Ukraine.