Photographs have emerged of the Ukrainian Air Force pilot accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by pro-Russian rebels, who have denied responsibility for the tragedy.
Moscow has repeatedly claimed that flight MH17 was shot down by a Ukrainian aircraft, according to the Daily Mail , as pro-Russian media in the eastern part of the country have labeled Captain Vladislav Voloshin as the “executioner of MH17.” Believed to be in his late 20s, Voloshin was singled out by an unnamed witness from his Dnipropetrovsk air base, who claimed that the pilot left in an Su-17 combat jet on the day flight MH17 was downed, according to the Mirror , allegedly returning later without his plane’s air-to-air combat missiles.
This Ukrainian fighter pilot shot down MH17 NOT us, claim pro-Russian separatists http://t.co/pjGDrl5RI3 pic.twitter.com/BL1qTUaeDN
— slone (@slone) January 10, 2015
The Russian Investigative Committee, which is roughly analogous to the FBI, has insisted that the witness passed a lie detector test, and that his testimony is credible. As the Inquisitr has previously reported, the committee has called upon Voloshin to submit to a polygraph test as well.
Though the official investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is being conducted by Dutch authorities, Russia has launched its own probe into the tragedy. The committee has demanded the release of Ukrainian military flight logs from the day that the Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down, asserting that they should also be allowed to interrogate any air traffic controllers with knowledge of flight MH17.
Russian military downed flight #MH17 with ground-to-air missile, new report concludes http://t.co/IfeAsTKT9Z pic.twitter.com/8thsrQwZHg — UKRAINE TODAY (@uatodaytv) January 10, 2015
“Let Voloshin take a lie-detector test with Dutch or Malaysian experts,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said. “Representatives of the Russian Investigative Committee are ready to leave for Ukraine at short notice with all necessary equipment for testing pilot Voloshin and all others who might know anything about the crash.”
Though Voloshin has not directly spoken to the media about the downing of flight MH17, he has denied responsibility for the act through his superiors. Ukraine, meanwhile, has accused Russia of orchestrating a propaganda stunt in naming the pilot.
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— V-news (@Vnews_org) December 23, 2014
An official with the SBU, Ukraine’s security service, has claimed that Voloshin made no flights on the day that the plane was downed, as his jet required repairs for damage inflicted during landing the prior day. All 298 people aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 died when the plane was shot from the sky over the Ukraine on July 17.
[Image via the Daily Mail ]
