Flight MH17: Russia Urges UN Aviation Body To Open New Probe As It ‘Categorically Disagrees’ With Dutch Report

Russia has urged the United Nations’ aviation body to open a new probe into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. The news comes a day after the long-awaited results of the Dutch Safety Board’s report confirmed that the plane was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile system.

"The Russian commission categorically disagrees with the conclusions of the final report. They are fundamentally wrong, the lack of logic there is beyond comparison," deputy head of Russia's federal air transport agency Oleg Storchevoi said, in a televised news conference Wednesday, according to the Associated Press (AP). "I had a feeling that the commission was cherry-picking the evidence to suit a theory they had chosen."

Storchevoi reportedly said that Russia "will use its right" to continue the probe into last year’s crash and appealed to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to intervene. He also accused the Dutch of "hiding important data" from Russia, hinting that some of the evidence was faked.

The ICAO welcomed the Dutch investigation Tuesday, which was conducted under the international requirements established by the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention.

“ICAO and its member states responded rapidly in the aftermath of MH17 to address some important immediate concerns,” ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said, in a press release.

“Now that the Dutch Safety Board has issued its Final Report, ICAO will be reviewing its recommendations applicable to our Organization and responding as needed to ensure that air transport continues to be the safest way to travel,” he said, adding: “In this respect it is important to remind all concerned that investigations under Annex 13 are directly related to improving flight safety, and not to the apportioning of liability or blame.”

While the Dutch prosecutor’s office is set to release a report in early 2016 that will deal with the question of who shot down the plane, the White House issued a statement Tuesday calling the release of the Dutch report “an important milestone.”