US intelligence confirms Russia was not directly involved in MH17 incident

On July 22, US media quoted senior intelligence officials as confirming that Russia was not directly involved in the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which killed 298 passengers, and rejected Russia's explanations about the incident.

According to unnamed US intelligence officials, MH17 was most likely shot down by an SA-11 anti-aircraft missile fired by separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, and it is unclear whether any Russians were present at the launch pad or whether the team that fired the missile had been trained in Russia.

At a press conference on July 22, Russian Lieutenant General Igor Makushev accused the Ukrainian SU-25 of flying 3km away from MH17 right before the Malaysian plane crashed. (Photo: RT)

Another senior official said the possibility that the plane was shot down by mistake could not be ruled out.

Senior intelligence sources say they decided to hold the press conference partly to counter what they say is misleading propaganda from Russia and Russian state media about the MH17 incident.

A senior intelligence official said it was unrealistic that the Ukrainian government had shot down the plane because Kiev had no missile systems in the area, which was clearly under separatist control./.

According to VNA