RUSSIA has denied responsibility for the downing of MH17, saying no new anti-aircraft missiles have crossed into Ukraine since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Bernama reported.

Yesterday, the joint investigation team on MH17 announced that the missile that brought down the passenger aircraft was fired by the Russian army’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade, which was based in Kursk, east of the Ukraine-Russia border.

MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, when it was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Ukraine was at the time embroiled in a civil war between government forces and separatist rebels said to be backed by Russia. The plane crashed in rebel-controlled territory. – May 25, 2018.