DONETSK, Ukraine — In an interview with Reuters
Vostok Battalion, admitted that rebels possessed a BUK missile system —
the same system Kiev and Western intelligence agencies say downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine.
“I knew that a BUK came from Luhansk. At the time I was told that a BUK
from Luhansk was coming under the flag of the LNR,” Reuters quoted him
as saying, referring to the Luhansk People’s Republic, one of two rebel
strongholds in eastern Ukraine. They also control the eastern region of Donetsk.
However, Khodakovsky, a former Ukrainian security services officer turned separatist commander, called out the news agency shortly after it
published the exclusive interview, saying the quote had been fabricated.
In a telephone interview with Russia’s LifeNews, he admitted to
speaking with Reuters about the BUK, but came short of an all-out denial that he had acknowledged rebels had a system in their possession.
"We had a conversation with the agency that published this information. We
discussed the various versions. One of the versions has been the
accusation [of possessing the BUK missile system]...
As commander of the militia, if I possessed such a tool, I'd never have used it
As commander of the militia, if I possessed such a tool,
I'd never have used it. None of the officers would have gone to such
irrational use... In the interview I outlined this information,"
Khodakovsky said.
“I did not say anything like this to Reuters,
and I have a recording of a conversation," Russia’s RIA Novosti reported
a source close to Khodakovsky as saying.
Reuters, however, released audio of the tape
hours later. In a clip carried and translated by Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, a voice resembling that of Khodakovsky
acknowledges that a BUK missile system was in the possession of the
rebels, just as the news agency had reported.
“We stand by our story,”“We stand by our story,” David Crundwell, a corporate affairs officer for Reuters, told Mashable via email.
Ukrainian and Western intelligence believe it was a Soviet-made BUK surface-to-air missile system that downed the Boeing 777 as it passed over the eastern region of Donetsk on July 17, killing all 298 passenger on board.
U.S. intelligence officials this week blamed Russia for backing the rebels,
who they say are likely the culprits behind the downing of the plane.
However, the unnamed senior officials say the Russian government wasn't directly involved in the shooting. They believe the rocket was fired from an area on the outskirts of the city of Snezhnoe.
Before the Malaysian plane was shot down, rebels had loudly boasted
of have BUK missiles in their possession, and several amateur
photographs and videos — one embedded below from the Reuters reporter
who interviewed the rebel leader — appeared to show it moving through
rebel-controlled territory.
The advanced rocket system can shoot down planes at heights up to 72,000 feet, according to analysts at HIS Jane’s, a defense consultancy.
Flight 17 was cruising at an altitude of about 33,000 feet when it was hit.
Since the disaster, the rebels have categorically denied ever possessing
the system.
In the interview, Reuters also reported Khodakovsky
as saying the BUK missile system may have originated in Russia and could
have returned there after the jetliner was shot down to remove proof of
its presence.
Mashable's attempts to contact the authors of the Reuters story and Khodakovsky were unsuccessful.
Khodakovsky, a former head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s elite “Alpha”
anti-terrorism unit in Donetsk, clashed with anti-government protesters
in Kiev during the Euromaidan Revolution that toppled former President
Viktor Yanukovych in February. He’s one the few rebel commanders
operating in Donetsk and Luhansk regions that is a Ukrainian citizen.
One reason for his admission could be due to his recent quarrels with other rebel commanders.One reason for his admission could be due to his recent quarrels with other rebel commanders.
The rebel militias have been plagued by infighting for weeks. On July 16,
one day before the Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down, Khodakovsky was
purportedly forced to resign from his post as security minister for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Previously, he had butted heads with the breakaway republic’s self-described
defense minister Igor Strelkov, a Muscovite who, on the day the plane
was shot down, wrote — and then retracted — “We warned you — do not fly in our sky.”
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