New testimony about the Ukrainian pilot who shot down MH17?

© Russian Defense Ministry

Interesting news this morning: the Russian newspaper has interviewed a man who claims to have been a witness to the take-off of three aircraft, one of which allegedly shot down MH17. Thanks to the incredible work done by Kazzura the full video with English subtitles is already available today. Check it out:

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I will notice that there are several mutually contradictory versions circulating out there. For example, one version spoke of a Polish pilot, this one speaks of a Ukrainian (with a very Russian last name), some versions speak of one aircraft, others of two and this one even three, some speak of a SU-25, others of a MiG-29 or even a SU-27 (such as the alleged satellite photo from the student at MIT). There are several reasons for such discrepancies.

For one thing, coming up with a "testimony" is a surefire way to make money. Second, some witnesses might have seen something but not paid attention at the time and then "reconstructed" what they saw. Finally, witnesses are like the folks holding different parts of the elephant - they see only a part of the bigger picture.

I have to say that I still am basically sticking with the version I put forth on August 4th: MH-17 was shot down by a single SU-25, guided towards its target by the long-range "Kupol" radar of a BukM1 battery who engaged MH17 with a single R-60 infrared-guided air-to-air missile which it one of the engines and then who "finished off" MH17 with a volley of gunfire for its canon. Still, I have to add two things:

a) it is possible that even though only one SU-25 engaged MH17 there were another two loitering nearby to make sure to intercept MH17 because the problem with flying an SU-25 at high altitude is not that it cannot get high enough, but that at high altitude the engines of the SU-25 (which are designed for close air support or "tree hugging") cannot provide much speed thus the flight envelope of a SU-25 at altitudes around 7'000m-10'000m is very narrow.

b) I am aware of the version that Kolomoisky had hired Ukrainians pilots to shoot down Putin's Presidential Aircraft, but I cannot imagine why they would not have been aware that the transponder of MH17 was signaling that this was a totally different aircraft regardless of the fact that the two aircraft externally appeared similar. Unless that is explained to me I cannot endorse this version.

One thing I am 99% sure of is that MH17 was not downed by a surface-to-air missile like the BukM1 because of the highly visible column of smoke left by such a missile which lingers on for a long time (up to 30min depending one wind conditions). The launch is also very noisy. So while we have seen the recent testimony of a Ukrainian solider who confirmed that the Buk # 312 allegedly belonging to Russia was, in fact, Ukrainian, I do not believe that this Buk was actually used to shoot down MH17.

What is absolutely certain is that the US, the UK, Holland and pretty much all the parties involved are busy covering up what happened and trying to delay any possible relevant findings as much as possible. The only country which is still demanding an independent investigation is Russia which, by itself, tells me all I need to know about "who done it".

Comment: You can read the transcript of the interview here. Voloshin, the SU-25 pilot mentioned in the program, was awarded the Order for Courage (3rd degree) by President Poroshenko on July 19th, 2 days after the shoot-down of H17. (See here for the Google translation.) As for 'competing versions', there is also this Russian documentary produced by Andrei Karaulov for Channel 5 (part 1, part 2), which claims the pilot who shot down MH17 was Lt. Col. Dmitry Yakasuts, and that he was sent to United Arab Emirates the next day.

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