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| MH17 disaster: Russians 'controlled BUK missile system' | MH17 disaster: Russians 'controlled BUK missile system' |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Russians were operating a BUK missile launcher seen in the area where the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet MH17 was shot down, eyewitnesses have told Panorama. | |
| Distinctive shrapnel damage to the plane points to a fragmentation weapon - such as a BUK - downing the plane. | Distinctive shrapnel damage to the plane points to a fragmentation weapon - such as a BUK - downing the plane. |
| The Kremlin had previously suggested that the missile was from a Ukrainian fighter jet. | The Kremlin had previously suggested that the missile was from a Ukrainian fighter jet. |
| Pro-Russian rebels have denied any possession of a BUK. | Pro-Russian rebels have denied any possession of a BUK. |
| However, photographs and videos cast doubt on the claim by the Kremlin and pro-Russian rebels - that they did not have a BUK missile launcher on their territory. | However, photographs and videos cast doubt on the claim by the Kremlin and pro-Russian rebels - that they did not have a BUK missile launcher on their territory. |
| Three eyewitnesses, all civilians, separately told Panorama that they saw a missile-launcher in rebel-held territory a few hours before the Boeing jet was hit. | Three eyewitnesses, all civilians, separately told Panorama that they saw a missile-launcher in rebel-held territory a few hours before the Boeing jet was hit. |
| One eyewitness saw the missile-launcher roll off a low-loader at Snezhnoye, around ten miles from the crash site, at around 13:30 local time (10:30 GMT). | One eyewitness saw the missile-launcher roll off a low-loader at Snezhnoye, around ten miles from the crash site, at around 13:30 local time (10:30 GMT). |
| "We just saw it being offloaded and when the BUK started its engine the exhaust smoke filled the whole town square," he said. | "We just saw it being offloaded and when the BUK started its engine the exhaust smoke filled the whole town square," he said. |
| 'Pure Russian accents' | 'Pure Russian accents' |
| The eyewitness told the BBC that the crew struck him as Russian soldiers: "Well-disciplined, unlike the rebels, and not wearing the standard Ukrainian camouflage uniform sported by government and rebel troops alike." | The eyewitness told the BBC that the crew struck him as Russian soldiers: "Well-disciplined, unlike the rebels, and not wearing the standard Ukrainian camouflage uniform sported by government and rebel troops alike." |
| "They had pure Russian accents. They say the letter 'g' differently to us," he said. | "They had pure Russian accents. They say the letter 'g' differently to us," he said. |
| In eastern Ukraine, most people speak Russian but the BUK crew did not speak Russian with a local accent. | In eastern Ukraine, most people speak Russian but the BUK crew did not speak Russian with a local accent. |
| His testimony was confirmed by a second eyewitness, who added that an officer in a military jeep escorting the BUK spoke with a Muscovite accent. | His testimony was confirmed by a second eyewitness, who added that an officer in a military jeep escorting the BUK spoke with a Muscovite accent. |
| If correct, the Kremlin has to explain to the relatives of the 298 passengers and crew who died - including ten Britons - why Russian military personnel were allegedly seen in the area escorting a BUK shortly before MH17 was shot down. | If correct, the Kremlin has to explain to the relatives of the 298 passengers and crew who died - including ten Britons - why Russian military personnel were allegedly seen in the area escorting a BUK shortly before MH17 was shot down. |
| If these eyewitnesses are right, then the BUK crew may have been part of the Kremlin's 'Ghost Army' - reportedly thousands of Russian soldiers who have been secretly infiltrated into Ukraine and have tipped the military balance heavily in the rebels' favour. | If these eyewitnesses are right, then the BUK crew may have been part of the Kremlin's 'Ghost Army' - reportedly thousands of Russian soldiers who have been secretly infiltrated into Ukraine and have tipped the military balance heavily in the rebels' favour. |
| Unanswered questions | Unanswered questions |
| The Kremlin's denial of military support to the rebels is countered by a mass of evidence, including a video of a mechanised battalion column of Russian tanks and military hardware shot from the back of a bus in Ukraine. | The Kremlin's denial of military support to the rebels is countered by a mass of evidence, including a video of a mechanised battalion column of Russian tanks and military hardware shot from the back of a bus in Ukraine. |
| Fresh graves of alleged Russian soldiers killed in the fighting in Ukraine also tell a wholly different story to the Kremlin's official line that it has no role in the war. | Fresh graves of alleged Russian soldiers killed in the fighting in Ukraine also tell a wholly different story to the Kremlin's official line that it has no role in the war. |
| Last week Panorama caught up with Mr Putin in Yakutsk's Mammoth Museum in Siberia and asked him if he regretted the killings in Ukraine. | Last week Panorama caught up with Mr Putin in Yakutsk's Mammoth Museum in Siberia and asked him if he regretted the killings in Ukraine. |
| He parried the question and was quick to blame the Ukrainian government for not talking to the rebels and its army for "shelling residential areas". | He parried the question and was quick to blame the Ukrainian government for not talking to the rebels and its army for "shelling residential areas". |
| The president has a point. When I was in Donetsk in July, the Ukrainian army, seeking to shell a rebel base in the city, missed and hit the maternity hospital. Fortunately expectant mums and newborn babies had already been moved down to a cellar. | The president has a point. When I was in Donetsk in July, the Ukrainian army, seeking to shell a rebel base in the city, missed and hit the maternity hospital. Fortunately expectant mums and newborn babies had already been moved down to a cellar. |
| Human Rights Watch has condemned both the government and rebel sides for indiscriminate shelling of civilians. | Human Rights Watch has condemned both the government and rebel sides for indiscriminate shelling of civilians. |
| But Mr Putin left as I tried to tackle him on Russia's actions in the war and MH17, so those questions remain unanswered. | But Mr Putin left as I tried to tackle him on Russia's actions in the war and MH17, so those questions remain unanswered. |
| Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man who spent ten years in prison after he crossed President Putin, said: | Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man who spent ten years in prison after he crossed President Putin, said: |
| "The prospect of democratic change of power in Russia does not exist anymore. There will be more blood in the future." | "The prospect of democratic change of power in Russia does not exist anymore. There will be more blood in the future." |