Scientist: Yes, it was a Buk, but whose is still a mystery
Novaya Gazeta continues its investigation into the downing of the Boeing over Donbas. This time, the newspaper publishes an interview with an unnamed Russian military scientist, an air defense tester. He believes that the Buk M1 missile was approaching the plane from the northeast and exploded on a collision course. However, unlike previously interviewed experts, the scientist cannot say who exactly—the militia or the Ukrainian Armed Forces—fired the missile.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator – Kyiv news on Facebook , Odnoklassniki , or VKontakte
“Considering that I have repeatedly launched Buk, studied the problems that arise during its combat use in various circumstances, developed methods for solving them, which modern science suggests, studied myself, taught others, I can say unequivocally: the plane was destroyed by a missile of this particular complex . Having studied the characteristic holes in the remains of the fuselage, I can give an absolute guarantee,” says the expert.
According to the publication's source, knowing the target's flight level, course, and speed, it's possible to reconstruct the trajectory of a Buk M1 missile with an accuracy of up to a square kilometer. Not only foreigners, but also our specialists, undoubtedly, guided this aircraft. The parameters are known to everyone, and calculating the missile's trajectory, even if it's guided, is nothing out of the ordinary. Foreign specialists would be equally able to determine this trajectory if they had a complete calculation of the missile's flight path—the fuel section, the engine, and the acceleration speed. Since the Buk is in service with Finland, theoretically, there are no secrets for them.
“In my opinion, the rocket was flying from the east-northeast and exploded on a collision course about 50 m from the airliner, which simply “entered” this cloud with its left side,” says the specialist.
“We must also keep in mind that our satellite was not over the crash site at that moment. But it was American,” explains the expert. “His characteristics and capabilities are such that they have all the data, he can even see the license plate number. Apparently, the details recorded by the American satellite do not give one hundred percent confidence in the “authorship” of the shot. Otherwise, they would have published everything long ago.”
“Ours (Russian intelligence officers and military experts - editor's note), of course, regretted it greatly: the miss in time (of the flight of the Russian satellite over Donbass - editor's note) turned out to be quite insignificant, as they specially guessed with this shot. If it had happened 24 minutes earlier or 32 minutes later, our satellite would have also provided a picture. It was during this interval of the Russian satellite tracking system's dead zone that everything happened. As luck would have it. Now the Americans and I are not in an equal position,” says the expert.
Scientist : Yes, it was a Buk, but whose is still a mystery