© Maxim Zmeyev / Reuters
On Thursday 24th of May, the Dutch, Australian and Ukranian-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 gave a
press conference in which, for the first time, they explicitly accused Russia of providing the anti-aircraft system that shot down the passenger plane - although they had
suggested as much in the past.
They made two central claims:
- That a BUK-TELAR Russian unit from the 53rd brigade based in Kursk crossed the border into Ukraine, and
- That the markings on the remains of the BUK missile allegedly used in the incident indicate it was Soviet made.
Bizarrely, the first claim is borrowed largely from articles on the Bellingcat website (such as
this one). JIT members themselves mentioned that the arguments had been published by Bellingcat already, although they insisted they performed their own 'independent analysis' and that they are withholding further evidence. Eliot Higgins, the man who runs Bellingcat, is
listed as an "expert" on the Atlantic Council website, and described as a "Nonresident Senior Fellow, Digital Forensic Research Lab, Future Europe Initiative". The Atlantic Council 'think-tank' is
known for its pro-US/NATO and anti-Russian stance, and among the members of its
Advisory Board and
Directors we find Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, James Woolsey, James Clapper, Rupert Murdoch and the heads of finance and defense corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Airbus and Goldman Sachs, among many others. Thus, any research based on Bellingcat's is hardly unbiased and independent.
Comment: Basically, Russia has to balance a lot of 'interests' in its Syria intervention. It can support Syria only so far - explicitly - without crossing certain lines in respect to Israel and the U.S. But it can continue to support Syria in other ways, even while Syria and its allies take action in which the Russians don't participate directly. If Russia can balance all sides peacefully, that would be ideal. But it looks like Syria is not willing to give up its territory, and will take action if necessary to get it back - with or without successful negotiations with their enemies. And Russia won't stop them.
See also: Israel claims deal made with Russia to pull back Iran from Golan region - again