BREAKING: Relatives of MH17 victims who have met privately with Joint Investigative Committee (JIT) officials, say the JIT has determined MH17 was shot down by a Buk missile from separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine and that the missile system was smuggled into Ukraine from Russia and then removed back to Russia after the disaster.
Just in from RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Nieuwegein, a small town outside Utrecht, where the JIT press conference is under way:
Relatives of victims of the MH17 tragedy say the international criminal investigation into the incident has determined the passenger jet was shot down by a Buk antiaircraft missile fired from separatist controlled territory in Ukraine.
Speaking to RFE/RL after meeting privately with officials from the Joint Investigative Team (JIT) on September 28, Robbie Oehlers, who lost a cousin in the tragedy, and Piet Ploeg, who lost a brother, said the JIT has also determined that the Buk missile system was smuggled into Ukraine from Russian territory and then removed from Ukraine back to Russia shortly after MH17 was shot down.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 passengers and crew on board perished.
Russia has denied supplying the separatists that it supports with such weapons and has asserted MH17 was shot down by Ukrainian forces.