In late August Russia
handed over decoded radar data to the Netherlands from the aerial zone where
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014.
These materials had initially been provided in their original, i.e., non-decoded form, along with the software needed to decode them.
However, the Dutch investigators, despite being armed with the latest in modern technology as well as the assistance of their British colleagues,
were not able to decode the recordings, and in the end they asked Russian experts to do it. In three years this has been the only time they have asked to collaborate.
Never before had the commission accepted any Russian offers of assistance.The decoded recordings
clearly showed that the missile had been fired from the zone controlled by the Ukrainian military. And this is not some fabricated story concocted by journalists, but documented, technical information.
Estimated distance to Flight MH-17 from the Ukrainian-controlled BUK launcher in Zaroshchenskoe at the moment of attack (less than 30km) lies within the operational range, unlike one, presumably operated by the Donbass militia.
However, every sign seems to indicate that the decoded information obtained from Russia will
not be included in the case file, but will instead face the fate of so much other data that does not fit neatly into the preferred version of the investigation. It will probably just fall into a black hole, which is what happened to the photos of the tragedy that were taken by American spy satellites.
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