President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that a Russian army missile did not bring down Malaysia Airlines Flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014, rebuffing Dutch investigators who concluded that a Russian missile system was used in the attack.
The Netherlands said on Friday that it held the Russian state responsible and a Dutch cabinet statement said a “possible” next step would be presenting the case to an international court, adding Australia shared its assessment of Russia’s role.
Putin, when asked at an economic forum in St Petersburg whether a Russian army missile was involved, said: “Of course not”.
Putin said that Moscow could not fully trust Dutch findings about the incident because Moscow had not been involved in the investigation.
Earlier, the Dutch cabinet released their statement holding Russia responsible after an interim report by prosecutors investigating the plane’s destruction said the missile that shot it down was fired from a launcher in Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade.
