Ukraine

Damning Video Shows Pro-Russian Rebels Surprised MH17 Was Civilian

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By RFE/RL

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 17.07.2015 15:28

Damning video obtained by Australian media shows pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine sifting through the wreckage of MH17 and finding to their surprise that the aircraft was civilian rather than military.
Part of the 17-minute video, published one year after the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, appears to include the moment rebels realize a civilian airplane rather than a Ukrainian military jet has crashed.
The video, taken on mobile phones by the rebels themselves, could support initial evidence that the civilian airliner with 298 passangers on board was shot down mistakenly by rebels who believed they had destroyed a Ukrainian Sukhoi air force fighter jet.
News Corp Australia, owner of the newspaper, called the video exclusive footage that was taken by the rebels and smuggled out of Donetsk just this week after months of efforts to obtain it.
The newspaper said that the video shows a rebel unit dispatched from Donetsk to the crash site to hunt for Ukrainian military pilots that the rebels believed had parachuted out after rebels shot their jet fighter down.
But at least parts of the clip appeared in BBC coverage in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
News Corp said that in one frame a man wore a clearly visible identification tag from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic around his neck.
The rebels, holding guns and dressed in army camouflage as they wandered around the still-smoldering wreckage, can be heard in the video talking about looking for the Ukrainian pilots and then expressing surprise and confusion as they discovered the aircraft and its passengers were civilian.
“It’s a civilian!” said the commander. And then, in a revealing admission: “They [headquarters] say the Sukhoi brought down the civilian plane and ours brought down the fighter."
Speaking in both Russian and Ukrainian, the rebels ask how this passenger plane was allowed to fly over Ukraine. An unidentified commander is heard receiving calls from rebel leaders trying to find out what is going on.
Rummaging Through Luggage
The rebels express surprise and dismay as they find dismembered bodies of civilians with luggage tags showing they were from Australia and Malaysia.
Despite their macabre discoveries, the rebels are seen rummaging through luggage and gathering phones, wallets and other items of value.
"It is sickening to watch, and 12 months on from the downing of MH17, it is deeply concerning that this footage has emerged now," said Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Australian TV.
"It is certainly consistent with the intelligence advice that we received 12 months ago, that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile," she said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Tragic Scenes At MH17 Crash Site
A child's doll is seen among the victims' belongings scattered near the village of Grabovo http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-video-shows-rebels-surprised-mh17-wreckage-civilian/27133474.html