What really hit MH17? Russia still can’t make up its mind

KYIV, Ukraine — Important people in Moscow now agree: a missile allegedly brought down Malaysia Airlines flight 17 over Ukraine last July, killing all 298 onboard. And the missile was what most everyone else thinks it was — a Buk anti-aircraft system.

Don’t hold your breath for a confession from Moscow, though.

The Russian defense company that produces the same type of missile system said Tuesday that only Ukraine had the precise model that shot MH17 out of the sky, according to the firm's own investigation. And the firm, state-run Almaz-Antey, claimed the missile hadn’t been produced in Russia since 1999.

So now we know where the Kremlin stands, right? Wrong.

A day later, Moscow authorities are still having trouble making up their minds.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Investigative Committee named a key witness who supposedly testified to seeing a Ukrainian fighter jet return to its base on the day of the disaster without its payload. That indicates Moscow is still considering an earlier theory that a Sukhoi Su-25 from Ukraine’s air force might’ve opened fire on the commercial airliner.

The flip-flop is reminiscent of the first days after the tragedy, when Russian officials made a show of deflecting the blame, juggling both the Ukrainian fighter jet and surface-to-air missile theories. Russia’s tightly controlled state television — where a vast majority of Russians get their news — spun even more conspiracies that obscured the debate over what really happened.

Much of the international community accuses Russia of providing both the weapon system and triggermen that downed the flight. But Moscow has consistently denied that allegation and pinned the blame on Ukraine.

But critics have been working hard to disprove Russia.

Over the weekend, the respected citizen activist group Bellingcat released a report showing that Russian defense officials doctored the satellite photos they used last summer to implicate Ukrainian forces in the attack.

“These claims, representing the majority of information publicly presented by the Russian government since the downing of Flight MH17, are a clear attempt by the Russian government to deceive the public, global community, and the families of the Flight MH17 victims, only days after Flight MH17 was shot down,” Bellingcat said in a statement.

Many thought Almaz-Antey’s Buk presentation on Tuesday marked a shift in Moscow’s official version of events. But now the authorities are apparently backing both theories at the same time — leaving many scratching their heads.