“I don’t know whether they did it intentionally or by mistake,” Putin stressed.
He claimed the Russian army detected two missile launches from Ukraine-controlled areas that hit the plane.
“Most likely, it was American Patriot systems or European, probably French,” Putin said. POLITICO could not independently verify his claims.
Putin refuted theories of “friendly fire” for the downing of the aircraft. “There are friend-or-foe systems, and no matter how many times the operator presses the button, our air defense systems would not have engaged,” Putin said. “We only regret about our pilots,” he added.
Russia’s Investigative Committee reported collecting the remains and documents of deceased Ukrainian servicemen. Russia has sole access to the crash site.
Officials in Ukraine said Russia has provided no credible evidence to back up its claim about the downing of the transport plane. The Ukrainian agency that deals with prisoner exchanges said late Friday that Russian officials had “with great delay” provided it with a list of the 65 Ukrainians who Moscow said had died in the crash in Russia’s Belgorod region on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
