Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) on Thursday confirmed that the driver of a truck which transported the missile which shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has been in jail since 2017.
The Service said over 150 people who were involved in the transportation of the missile have also been identified.
MH17 was flying from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam, the Netherlands on July 17, 2014 when it was shot down in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on-board.
An official of the SBU, Vitaly Mayakov told reporters at a press conference that the Service had tracked down a man from Donestk, who was approached by separatists and asked to tow the missile.
Mr. Mayakov, who is part of the SBU’s Chief Investigative Department said the man, whose identity he declined to disclose had been in prison since 2017 and is now serving a sentence.
“We have determined the individual from among the fighters who brought it on the vehicle to Donetsk. We detained him, he is now serving a sentence here in Ukraine,” Mayakov said.
MH17 was downed during a war between Russian-backed rebels and Ukranian forces. An estimated 13,000 people were killed during the fighting.
This latest revelation comes as commemorations took place in Malaysia and the Netherlands to remember the 298 people who died on-board the flight five years ago today.
In the Netherlands, more than a thousand people attended a memorial service near Schipol Airport, where trees were planted for each victim, ten of whom were British nationals.
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