DISINFO: JIT investigation of MH17 crash is not efficient

Part of the recurring disinformation narratives around the MH17 crash. Firstly, Russia's interest in aiding the JIT investigation is not a relevant condition of its membership in the JIT. The crash did not take place over Russian territory and claimed no Russian lives, which precludes any basis for Moscow to be represented in the JIT. Dutch Chief Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said that "if MH17 were shot down over Russia, I would have suggested that Russia be made a member of the JIT group." A special team, known as the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), was established to conduct the criminal investigation. The JIT comprises of officials from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch police, along with police and criminal justice authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. The claims by Buk manufacturer Almaz-Antey were debunked in 2015 by Bellingcat. The "evidence" claimed by Russia, namely radar data and the "field experiment" conducted by the Russian military company Almaz-Antey, is only a small sample of misleading claims advanced by Moscow since 2015, some of which have contradicted one another. Also, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta found the claim that the Buk was of "Ukrainian origin" to be fabricated. The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has concluded that flight MH17 was shot down on the 17th of July 2014 by a missile of the 9M38 series, launched by a BUK-TELAR, from farmland in the vicinity of Pervomaiskiy. At that time, the area was controlled by pro-Russian fighters. The BUK-TELAR was brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequently, after having shot down flight MH17, was taken back to the Russian Federation. The JIT has concluded that the BUK-TELAR originates from the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation. International investigators announced charges against four suspects accused of shooting down flight MH17 on the 19th of June 2019. The first public hearing took place on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands. The European Union and NATO have called on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability. On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the Buk installation that was used to down MH17. The two governments are formally holding Russia accountable. The US has supported the decisions by the Netherlands and Australia.