0:00:04 > 0:00:06A summer's day in eastern Ukraine.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10A Boeing 777 suddenly breaks up in midair.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15All 298 people on board are killed.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20It's the worst air disaster for two decades,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22and it comes just four months after
0:00:22 > 0:00:26the mysterious disappearance of another Malaysian airliner.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32The official account says a powerful ground-to-air missile hit the plane.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36But rival theories and relentless questions
0:00:36 > 0:00:38saturate the media and the internet.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Why do many witnesses talk of seeing other planes?
0:00:43 > 0:00:46And why didn't anyone see a missile?
0:00:46 > 0:00:48All the people have mobiles and cameras.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50They are not living in Stone Age.
0:00:50 > 0:00:51There must be something.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57We don't have American satellite images.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00We don't have the testimonies of the air controllers.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I think there are still more questions than answers.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09It's very strange that, a whole day, nobody has images from that period.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Who's hiding? Who's hiding what?
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Things are hidden, that's for sure.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Is this the fighter pilot who shot down MH17?
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Or was a missile fired from a Russian-made missile launcher?
0:01:25 > 0:01:27We tracked the secret witnesses
0:01:27 > 0:01:31and meet the spooks, to try to sort fact from fiction.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35They say every country lies, including our own.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38The task is, whoever lies first, wins.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Well, we won!
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 took off just after midday
0:02:11 > 0:02:15from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, bound for Kuala Lumpur.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22The Boeing 777 had a crew of 15.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25There were 283 passengers on board.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34What they didn't know was
0:02:34 > 0:02:37their flight was about to take them over a war zone.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Russian-backed rebels were engaged in a bitter fight
0:02:40 > 0:02:42against the Ukrainian army.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Two-thirds of the passengers were Dutch.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Bryce Fredriksz and his girlfriend, Daisy Oehlers,
0:03:00 > 0:03:01were on a dream holiday to Bali.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Bryce was 23,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08working as a cook.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10He was with Daisy for the last three years,
0:03:10 > 0:03:12and Daisy also lived in our house.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15They were really fond of each other.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21Bryce turned form a wild boy into a caring, loving young man.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26And...Bryce wanted to show Daisy Bali,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29and they wanted to have a good time.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Visit friends and family over there.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36They never made it.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43The world stopped turning.
0:03:43 > 0:03:44Bam.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47BBC NEWS THEME A passenger jet with 295 people...
0:03:47 > 0:03:50A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane has crashed...
0:03:50 > 0:03:54A whole multitude of questions as to what has caused this crash.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59298 people from around the world lost their lives,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01including 80 children.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04The judgment was instant.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11We have enormous input about this which points fingers.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13It's pretty clear that this is a system
0:04:13 > 0:04:15that was transferred from Russia,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17in the hands of separatists.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23The disaster happened in the midst of a bitter civil war.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The Ukrainian government was quick to claim these pictures prove
0:04:27 > 0:04:30this Russian Buk or SA-11 missile launcher was responsible.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35The weight of evidence is pointing in one direction.
0:04:35 > 0:04:41MH17 was shot down by an SA-11 missile fired by separatists.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43This is a defining moment for Russia.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45The world is watching.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Shooting down a civilian aircraft was the final straw.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Sweeping sanctions were soon agreed against Russia.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Over 15 months, the Dutch Safety Board
0:04:58 > 0:05:01painstakingly reconstructed part of the plane.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06The official report concluded
0:05:06 > 0:05:09a single, powerful ground-to-air missile hit MH17.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14In less than a minute, a Russian-made Buk missile
0:05:14 > 0:05:16travelled around 15 miles.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20It exploded a few feet from the cockpit of MH17...
0:05:22 > 0:05:26..sending more than 800 pieces of shrapnel ripping through the plane.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34The wreckage was eventually scattered
0:05:34 > 0:05:35over nearly 20 square miles.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50The finger of blame was now fixed on Russia
0:05:50 > 0:05:52and the pro-Russian rebels.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57But from the very start there were many other views.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Oleg Vitulkin lived nearby,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08and he was the first photographer on the scene.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13We can only show some of his photographs.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Oleg is a member of the pro-Russian rebel militia.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15He rejects the western account.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21TRANSLATED:
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Oleg didn't see a plane that could have shot down MH17.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35There are others who say they did.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Natasha Voronina was sitting right underneath
0:07:40 > 0:07:42the point at which MH17 disintegrated.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48TRANSLATED:
0:08:07 > 0:08:10And nearby, Igor heard something strange.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Before long, theories about what really happened
0:08:40 > 0:08:42swept across the internet.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47One independent journalist joined the hunt for clues.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Billy Six spent four months in Ukraine.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56He interviewed more than 100 people in the rebel controlled area
0:08:56 > 0:08:57around the crash site.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05Most of them talked about rumours, of course,
0:09:05 > 0:09:10but it was surprising for me to hear that
0:09:10 > 0:09:14nobody talked about rumour referring to the launch of a Buk missile.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18But many, all of them spoke, there must have been an airplane.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22RECORDING PLAYS
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Seven people told him they saw a fighter jet on the day MH17 crashed.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34They described it as a point in the sky which was shining,
0:09:34 > 0:09:40and one of them told me he even saw how it launched a missile.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44It was like a small line on the sky, going into the clouds,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and then he heard the big boom.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58All of these 100, more than 100 I talked to,
0:09:58 > 0:10:04thought that it was a fighter jet from the Ukrainian side.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08But the official report dismissed the idea that another plane could
0:10:08 > 0:10:10have brought down MH17.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Investigators found a mass of different shaped shrapnel.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19They argue only a powerful ground-to-air missile
0:10:19 > 0:10:21could be responsible.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28Crucially, they also found two unique bow-tie shaped fragments
0:10:28 > 0:10:31that are only found in one Russian-made warhead.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36They found 72 of those fragments,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and only two of them are bow-tie.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44And another two cubic. So I would like to see the other 68 pieces,
0:10:44 > 0:10:49because that could have happened randomly, that it looks like it.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Billy thinks two fighter jets could have shot down MH17.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00It looks, for me, that there was one fighter jet
0:11:00 > 0:11:02shooting from the back with a canon
0:11:02 > 0:11:06into the cockpit, in order to destroy the crew and the technology,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09and then another fighter jet fired with a radar-based
0:11:09 > 0:11:12air-to-air missile from the front
0:11:12 > 0:11:14and broke away the cockpit.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25With the west imposing tough sanctions
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and accusing Russia of mass murder,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30the time had come for the Kremlin to hit back.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Just four days after the crash,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39the Russian Ministry Of Defence launched its salvo.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Two of Russia's most senior generals accused Ukraine.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48They claimed Ukraine deliberately pushed MH17 off its flight path
0:11:48 > 0:11:50and into the war zone.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58TRANSLATION: Please, pay attention that up to Donetsk area,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01the aircraft flew in the determined corridor,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05and then it deviated from its route to the north.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08And they showed a recording of the Russian radar.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN
0:12:13 > 0:12:17TRANSLATION: There is new mark of an aircraft to be seen.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20They said this momentary blip revealed
0:12:20 > 0:12:23a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN
0:12:28 > 0:12:31TRANSLATION: Ukrainian aircraft climbing to the
0:12:31 > 0:12:34direction of Malaysian Boeing 77.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36It is supposed that it was Su-25.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42The general said the Su-25 carries missiles guaranteed to hit targets
0:12:42 > 0:12:44within a range of three miles,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48and the Malaysian airliner was already in range.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54This was nonsense. Absolute nonsense.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57I mean, the Su-25 is a
0:12:57 > 0:12:58close-air support aircraft,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01so it is designed to operate at low altitude
0:13:01 > 0:13:05to engage tanks and other equipment on the ground.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09It's not designed to operate at high altitude to shoot down aircraft.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10It's effectively a flying tank.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14It doesn't have a pressurised cockpit, so the pilot won't
0:13:14 > 0:13:17be able to survive at that altitude for very long,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19you know, at 33,000 feet, where MH17 was flying.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27But Russia soon had an answer.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34It came from the Kremlin-funded
0:13:34 > 0:13:36international news network Russia Today.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Its slogan is, "question more".
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Yana Erlashova is one of its star reporters.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55I don't push any scenarios or theories.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58I just report what people say.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02We have a lot of witnesses who saw jet fighters,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and I still think that this is one of the scenarios
0:14:04 > 0:14:07that should be at least considered.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12You cannot ignore, you know, um, people's testimonies.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17So Yana staged an extraordinary experiment,
0:14:17 > 0:14:22and the Russian Air Force showed the Su-25 is capable
0:14:22 > 0:14:25of reaching 33,000 feet, or 10,000 metres.
0:14:28 > 0:14:29TRANSLATED:
0:14:45 > 0:14:49I spoke to experts who said it could be possible. They say that
0:14:49 > 0:14:52it's not easy, but it's possible.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Another Russian documentary offered an even more dramatic demonstration.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03TRANSLATED:
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Su-25 don't carry very heavy missiles,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21but they carry massive missiles that can harm,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26you know, an aeroplane, that can bring big damage to a flying object.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30TRANSLATED:
0:15:31 > 0:15:33They claimed the damage matched that on MH17.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40There are experts, there are pilots who consider this theory.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43It's absolutely ignored in the west,
0:15:43 > 0:15:48so I'm trying to give people food for thought.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52But every expert we spoke to say this heavily armoured
0:15:52 > 0:15:56jet can only reach 33,000 feet by discarding its weapons,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and firing a weapon would cause it to stall.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07It's slower than MH17 was, than a Boeing 777,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09so it couldn't catch up with MH17.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12It doesn't operate the kind of missile systems
0:16:12 > 0:16:15that were used to shoot down MH17,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17it only operates heat-seeking missiles,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19and short-range ones at that.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23So the entire idea about, that the Su-25 might have been responsible
0:16:23 > 0:16:25is completely fanciful.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32But then a shocking new allegation surfaced in Moscow.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37A secret witness walked into a newspaper office.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40He claimed to have worked in the Ukrainian Air Force,
0:16:40 > 0:16:46and he named the pilot of an Su-25 he said shot down MH17.
0:16:48 > 0:16:49TRANSLATED:
0:17:28 > 0:17:31We tracked down the pilot named by the Russian newspaper
0:17:31 > 0:17:33to an airfield in southern Ukraine.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38TRANSLATED:
0:17:45 > 0:17:48The secret witness was revealed to be a mechanic
0:17:48 > 0:17:51who worked at the same base as the pilot.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Russia Today showed Evgeny Agapov
0:17:54 > 0:17:57talking to the Russian equivalent of the FBI.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05But the pilot says Agapov lied about what happened
0:18:05 > 0:18:06on the day MH17 crashed.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53But Russian TV claims to have the smoking gun.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Russia's most popular TV station, Channel One,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03broadcast an incredible satellite photograph showing
0:19:03 > 0:19:05a different fighter jet at the exact moment
0:19:05 > 0:19:08when it fired a missile at MH17.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13But by now, every claim and counter-claim
0:19:13 > 0:19:15was being picked over online.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18It was a clear fake, and it took about an hour
0:19:18 > 0:19:22for, kind of, the online community looking at MH17
0:19:22 > 0:19:24to completely tear this thing apart.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29This former office worker has started out blogging anonymously.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Just three days before MH17 crashed,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37he set up a website called Bellingcat.
0:19:38 > 0:19:39With a few volunteers,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42they scour websites, blogs and social media posts,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46and they analysed the Russian TV images.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51The satellite image itself of the ground appears to be
0:19:51 > 0:19:53composite images from different websites
0:19:53 > 0:19:55that have satellite imagery.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59MH17 is in the wrong position.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01The text on the side of the plane is in the wrong position, too.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03And there's more.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08If that was actually flying, it would be about four miles long,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11based off the perspective between the camera and the ground.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Or it would be a normal sized aircraft
0:20:13 > 0:20:15that was 300 metres away from the satellite,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18which would be quite an incredible achievement.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20And it just, when you look at all these different elements and you,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23like, think about it and actually try and verify stuff
0:20:23 > 0:20:25it just falls apart immediately.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41But what about the witnesses who described seeing other planes
0:20:41 > 0:20:44right next to MH17 when it crashed?
0:20:45 > 0:20:49It turns out many other witnesses are just as adamant
0:20:49 > 0:20:51they didn't see any other planes that day.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56One farmer was tending his cows
0:20:56 > 0:20:59right underneath where the Boeing crashed to the ground.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03TRANSLATED:
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Vitali had a clear view of MH17,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47but he didn't see any other aircraft nearby at the time of the crash.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02So what could explain the Russian military's claim that
0:22:02 > 0:22:05another plane was briefly visible on their radar?
0:22:05 > 0:22:09SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN
0:22:09 > 0:22:11TRANSLATION: And at this point,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15there is another aircraft. It is Boeing 777 mark.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18I've seen a lot of radar data
0:22:18 > 0:22:20in my time as an investigator.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22When aircraft break up in midair,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25some of the time they continue to transmit radar data on the way down.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27They may well change direction
0:22:27 > 0:22:29because they've lost the tail, or something like that,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32so they don't have the stability to carry on in a straight line.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38We know MH17 broke up into a number of large pieces.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Could that explain why many witnesses in the area describe
0:22:42 > 0:22:45seeing small planes flying in different directions?
0:22:48 > 0:22:50The official report said a fighter jet
0:22:50 > 0:22:52could not have caused the damage to MH17.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57And anyway, there were no fighter jets nearby.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Apart from that short blip, even the Russian radar video showed nothing.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04But we'll never know for sure,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07because Russia has never provided the raw, primary radar data.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12And, strangely, Ukraine said all its primary radar was
0:23:12 > 0:23:13switched off that day.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27As the war of words between the two superpowers escalated,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29the relatives were powerless,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31the dead, abandoned.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36The first days were like hell,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39because we knew the bodies were in the sun.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42That was horrible.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44They had no respect at all.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50No-one gave us the opportunity to
0:23:50 > 0:23:52recover the bodies.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03For months, this crime scene lay open and exposed.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Eventually, after three months,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Daisy's cousin, Robbie Oehlers,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17was allowed to visit the crash site.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20By now, most of the victims had been recovered.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22But not all.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24I was looking for Daisy's remains
0:24:24 > 0:24:27and Daisy's stuff,
0:24:27 > 0:24:28because she was not identified and
0:24:28 > 0:24:31the family was frustrated, we wanted to find her.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34So I was trying to find her suitcase,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37her clothes, her... Anything that belonged to her.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40When I got there I found more than I wanted.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43The first few metres I was walking,
0:24:43 > 0:24:48you could already see people's belongings lying on the ground.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53And, um, first you smell the kerosene,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55and then you start to hear voices in your head.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Really, you're, like you were in this crash.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Then I found this child's game in a cardboard box,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06and when I opened it I saw the name of the child inside
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and that's where, where the ground just, uh...
0:25:11 > 0:25:14..fell beneath me. Was gone. I couldn't walk
0:25:14 > 0:25:16and I had to take a few minutes for myself.
0:25:18 > 0:25:19It's horrible.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Four months after the crash,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28the investigators finally started recovering the wreckage.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43But that didn't stop the conspiracy theories.
0:25:52 > 0:25:53Much of the Russian media
0:25:53 > 0:25:56doubt a ground-to-air Buk missile was involved at all.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03Yana Erlashova said she tried hard to find evidence
0:26:03 > 0:26:05of the huge missile being launched.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08I literally knocked on every door
0:26:08 > 0:26:10and I said, "OK, so, where's that Buk missile?
0:26:10 > 0:26:14"It was somewhere in your area, you must have heard something.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17"You must have..." You know, I did it this...
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Reverse psychology or whatever you call this,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23for people to be, you know, like, to say honestly what they...
0:26:24 > 0:26:25But I had no luck.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37But near where it is now thought that missile was launched,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41we found one woman with an intriguing story to tell.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47And she comes from the even more intriguingly named village
0:26:47 > 0:26:49of Red October.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52TRANSLATED:
0:27:10 > 0:27:14But as it flew past her, she realised it wasn't a crashing plane.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16It was a missile being launched.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42And she didn't see any other planes close by that day.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49What she actually saw was unique.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03But could someone fire a massive missile
0:28:03 > 0:28:05without anyone taking a picture of it?
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Three hours after the crash,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10two photographs were posted on social media.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13They claim to show the distant plume of smoke
0:28:13 > 0:28:16from the missile that brought down MH17.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22The photos were taken by a man from this housing estate,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26seven miles north-west of Valentina's village of Red October.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34But some think the photos are fakes.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37They say the wires in this photo prove it.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39The wires are on the roof,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43but he took this picture, not from the roof.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45He took it from his balcony.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48I totally disagree with that. We've seen images of
0:28:48 > 0:28:51that side of the building with those cables above the balcony,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55you know, just in exactly the right position to be caught on camera.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Those cables are there. One's quite rigid, the other's quite droopy.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01That is visible on images.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04But Yana went to look for herself.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09He says that he looked out of the window and he saw the plume.
0:29:09 > 0:29:15But there is no window in his apartment facing, uh, that area.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23The photographer's balcony is at the back of this block of flats,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26and we discovered that, in the distance,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29you can see the launch location near Red October,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32to the left of the distinctive hill,
0:29:32 > 0:29:34which you can clearly see in the photo.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41You could absolutely see the launch location from that position.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44I think sometimes people see, you know, the things they want to see,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46and don't see the things they don't want to see.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52We tracked down the man
0:29:52 > 0:29:54who published the photos on the internet.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56A network of volunteers sends him
0:29:56 > 0:30:00information about rebel military movements.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03His identity is disguised for security reasons.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06So if MH17 was shot down by a missile and not a plane,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08who pulled the trigger?
0:31:09 > 0:31:14A second theory agrees MH17 was shot down by a missile.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18But this one argues that missile was fired by the Ukrainian Army,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20not the Russians.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25And it gets backing from an unlikely source.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33He is convinced that the official enquiry covered up the truth.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38I don't believe it was an independent investigation.
0:31:38 > 0:31:43Why did the black boxes end up...in Britain?!
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Nobody else can analyse black boxes?
0:31:46 > 0:31:50I have an Irish heritage, and my grandfather told me one time,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52IRISH ACCENT: "Raymond, do you know why the sun
0:31:52 > 0:31:55"never sets on the British Empire?"
0:31:55 > 0:31:56I said, "Yeah, I know."
0:31:56 > 0:31:58He said, "You don't know, sit down and I will tell you!
0:31:58 > 0:32:01"The sun never sets on the British Empire
0:32:01 > 0:32:05"because the Good Lord would never trust the British in the dark."
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Well, I don't trust the British with the black boxes.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14The US government says it has secret photos showing
0:32:14 > 0:32:17a Russian Buk launcher firing a missile,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19but it has refused to publish them.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25Don't tell anyone that we have intelligence that shows
0:32:25 > 0:32:29that the Russians gave them a Buk missile, cos we don't, OK?
0:32:29 > 0:32:33And these things are 16 feet long, right? And we would have.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42Instead, Ray McGovern claims sources within the CIA
0:32:42 > 0:32:46believe Ukraine might be to blame.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Some of the intelligence analysts thought that it was fired from
0:32:50 > 0:32:57a Ukrainian site and that it could have been a rogue kind of thing.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01There was said to be some satellite photography showing
0:33:01 > 0:33:06bottles of beer around one of the sites.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10What is certain is the Ukrainian Army did have
0:33:10 > 0:33:14the exact type of Buk missiles that are said to have shot down MH17.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18The Ukrainians have Russian missiles, for Pete's sake.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21So the propaganda effort here was pretty effusive
0:33:21 > 0:33:23and pretty noxious,
0:33:23 > 0:33:29and it clearly was seized upon by those who wish to paint Putin
0:33:29 > 0:33:34in the blackest of colours and those who wanted to impose sanctions.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48While the CIA has refused to produce satellite images,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51the Russians have released theirs.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53MAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN
0:33:56 > 0:33:59The Russian Ministry of Defence say these images show
0:33:59 > 0:34:01the Ukrainian Army missile launcher
0:34:01 > 0:34:02first at a military base...
0:34:05 > 0:34:06..then on the day of the crash
0:34:06 > 0:34:09at a front-line Ukrainian Army position.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14MAN CONTINUES IN RUSSIAN
0:34:20 > 0:34:24And this is that location. But there is just one problem.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27The details just don't match,
0:34:27 > 0:34:29it doesn't seem to be taken on the same day.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32You have clear examples where they have used imagery
0:34:32 > 0:34:34from several weeks earlier.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39The Russian satellite images show the Ukrainian missile launcher
0:34:39 > 0:34:42having left its base.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44But it is still there in a DigitalGlobe image
0:34:44 > 0:34:48we know was taken on the day MH17 was shot down.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57In fact, as we looked at this imagery more and more,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59it became very, very clear that this imagery
0:34:59 > 0:35:01from the Russian Ministry of Defence
0:35:01 > 0:35:04was not from July 17th at all, it was actually from the start of June.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Not a single witness has come forward about this launch site.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14What's more, it appears this location wasn't
0:35:14 > 0:35:16even held by the Ukrainian Army.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20So, you know, unless they were firing invisible missiles
0:35:20 > 0:35:23from invisible missile launchers that snuck past
0:35:23 > 0:35:26rebel checkpoints, this is not the launch site.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36A clearer picture of what really happened could now be emerging.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44On the morning of the shoot down, a Russian Buk missile launcher
0:35:44 > 0:35:47was seen leaving the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52The launcher was photographed as it was carried out
0:35:52 > 0:35:54of the city on the back of a lorry at about
0:35:54 > 0:35:5511 in the morning.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59The online investigators Bellingcat pinpointed
0:35:59 > 0:36:04the exact location by identifying this lamppost -
0:36:04 > 0:36:05the way the wires are connected,
0:36:05 > 0:36:08the shape of the trees and the road markings.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10But not everyone is convinced.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12None of it is credible.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16All these reports about seeing Buk missiles on the road,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18those have been shown to be spurious,
0:36:18 > 0:36:19they have been shown to be doctored.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25But there are a whole series of photos, videos
0:36:25 > 0:36:29and social media posts published at the time.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32They all talk about the same missile launcher as it headed east
0:36:32 > 0:36:34through rebel-held territory.
0:36:37 > 0:36:4120 miles down the road it was filmed again,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43on the back of that same lorry.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Four hours before the crash, the missile launcher was seen
0:36:49 > 0:36:52parked opposite a petrol station in the next town.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Around three hours before the crash,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18the launcher heads south out of the town of Snezhnoye.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22The likely launch location is just a few miles down this road.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27So we can track this missile launcher from Donetsk,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30and then we saw it travelling south out of town,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33then we have information from social media,
0:37:33 > 0:37:37a photograph showing this smoke, it all points to one location
0:37:37 > 0:37:40that is a few kilometres south of the location
0:37:40 > 0:37:42this last image of the Buk missile launcher was taken.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46And here is that location.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49In a field just a mile east of Red October.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52It falls in the middle of the area
0:37:52 > 0:37:54identified by the official report.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59This whole area was controlled by the pro-Russian rebels.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04And there is one more piece of evidence that backs that up.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07Launching the Buk missile generates searing temperatures.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10And tellingly, this photograph of burnt grass
0:38:10 > 0:38:15was taken in that same field just the few days after the crash.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25And there is one critical video of the same launcher
0:38:25 > 0:38:29on the morning after MH17 was shot down.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Now missing one missile and heading back towards Russia.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38Once again, the Russian Ministry of Defence say that is a lie.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42They claim it actually shows a Ukrainian launcher
0:38:42 > 0:38:44on Ukrainian territory.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48So the freelance journalist, Billy Six,
0:38:48 > 0:38:50set out to find the true location.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54And he found the Russian claim didn't stack up.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56IN GERMAN:
0:39:02 > 0:39:03Time and time again,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05you look at the Russian Ministry of Defence evidence
0:39:05 > 0:39:08and it looks incredibly suspicious, because they have lied,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12they have faked images, they have misled people on purpose.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15They lied about the flight path - the Dutch Safety Board reports have
0:39:15 > 0:39:17confirmed that - they lied about the radar data,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19they faked satellite map imagery...
0:39:19 > 0:39:23And this is a few days after 298 people have been killed,
0:39:23 > 0:39:26and they're just lying to the families of those people.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28Really quite disgusting.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32But can we really believe Bellingcat's blogs and social media,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36rather than the Russian Ministry of Defence?
0:39:36 > 0:39:39The burden of proof is on those who would cite social media,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42especially from this Bellingcat fella there,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44whatever the name is there,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47in the penthouse up there in London or wherever he is.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51I mean, who pays him?
0:39:51 > 0:39:54It's a criticism that has also been made by Russia Today.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58Bellingcat is run by Eliot Higgins,
0:39:58 > 0:40:00a 36-year-old laid-off office worker.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02He initially gained a web following
0:40:02 > 0:40:05and attention from the mainstream media by analysing
0:40:05 > 0:40:09arms in the Syrian conflict, despite having no experience in that field,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11or any higher education for that matter.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14He even confessed that what he knew about weapons
0:40:14 > 0:40:17came from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rambo.
0:40:17 > 0:40:22He sounds very much like somebody that MI6 or my old friends...
0:40:22 > 0:40:26We say, "We need somebody to get into social media."
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Everything that he has said has come to naught
0:40:30 > 0:40:32that could be proven one way or the other.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35There's lots of people who see, "Well, you are a stooge,
0:40:35 > 0:40:37"you are working for the CIA, you are working for MI6."
0:40:37 > 0:40:39I would be incredibly well-paid if I was
0:40:39 > 0:40:41working for the people that they say I am.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44The entire point of the way we work is we give as much information
0:40:44 > 0:40:46as possible, and this isn't us saying,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48"Oh, we've got this secret source."
0:40:48 > 0:40:50I build up this whole kind of pattern of information,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52and I invite people to look at it.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57VOICEOVER IN RUSSIAN
0:40:58 > 0:41:01But no-one beats the Russians for the sheer quantity
0:41:01 > 0:41:04of information released.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07In this slick video, the manufacturer of the Buk missile
0:41:07 > 0:41:11argued it must have been fired by the Ukrainian Army.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18The manufacturer said this distinctive missile was no longer
0:41:18 > 0:41:22in the service of the Russian Army.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26But what is this over President Putin's shoulder?
0:41:26 > 0:41:31This photograph was taken in 2013, and in 2015, those same missiles
0:41:31 > 0:41:35were proudly displayed at a May Day parade in Siberia.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39At least until one of the launchers caught fire.
0:41:42 > 0:41:43Not to be put off,
0:41:43 > 0:41:47the manufacturer responded with some dramatic experiments.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53And the manufacturer had more surprises to come.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57We are using the special supercomputer device
0:41:57 > 0:42:02and made over 14 million combinations.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Now they said the missile was even older,
0:42:05 > 0:42:09and this one was definitely not in Russian service.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16Well, it is not scientific to be honest, because the idea is to
0:42:16 > 0:42:22avoid detailed discussion, providing excessive amount of details.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24VOICEOVER CONTINUES
0:42:29 > 0:42:34So the idea is to kill the truth, that is the smokescreen.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45But conspiracy theories about MH17 go much further
0:42:45 > 0:42:47than just accusing Ukraine.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Sergei Sokolov is a private investigator.
0:42:55 > 0:43:00He says he now has a network of 150 agents, and he claims to
0:43:00 > 0:43:05have evidence of a massive international criminal conspiracy.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28While the wreckage was still burning,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31one of his agents arrived to gather evidence.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55Instead, they make the astonishing claim that two bombs
0:43:55 > 0:43:58were planted inside MH17.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12Now this tale gets darker still.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18He says a rogue agent in the Ukrainian Secret Service sold him
0:44:18 > 0:44:20an astounding telephone intercept.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05And he claims to have uncovered the motive.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37'Hi. Hello.'
0:45:37 > 0:45:40This is the secret recording that is supposed to prove
0:45:40 > 0:45:43this massive CIA-led conspiracy.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47'How are the preparations?
0:45:47 > 0:45:51'Everything, I mean everything, has gone according to plan.'
0:45:51 > 0:45:56They even named one of the alleged American spies as David Stern.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59He is in fact a journalist for the BBC.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03'This is very important, it is critical that there are no leaks.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05'Nah, don't worry, we understand.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08'Excellent, excellent, goodbye.'
0:46:08 > 0:46:11Unfortunately, the man with the very English accent...
0:46:11 > 0:46:14'Nah, don't worry, we understand.'
0:46:14 > 0:46:17..is actually quite clearly an American.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21Svoboda's numbers are still relatively small.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25Nonetheless, its popularity is unquestionably rising.
0:46:25 > 0:46:26They do like conspiracy theories,
0:46:26 > 0:46:29but when you think about the number of people that would have
0:46:29 > 0:46:33been involved both on the American side and the Ukrainian side,
0:46:33 > 0:46:35it is not the kind of operation
0:46:35 > 0:46:38that would have been able to be kept secret.
0:46:38 > 0:46:39It would have come out.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41I personally tend to believe in Ockham's razor,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44which basically says, "If you have got a complicated situation
0:46:44 > 0:46:48"and there are two theories, the simplest theory is the more likely."
0:46:48 > 0:46:51And there are a few technical problems too.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55The curved outer panels of the aircraft have been
0:46:55 > 0:46:57deformed inwards by all sorts of marks.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00Much like taking a 12-bore shotgun and shooting at a piece
0:47:00 > 0:47:04of metal, you get the marks in one particular direction.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06So it was fairly evident that the metal is bent inwards
0:47:06 > 0:47:10into the aeroplane rather than explosive,
0:47:10 > 0:47:12outwards defamation of the aeroplane,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15so the bomb theory has been discounted fairly easily
0:47:15 > 0:47:17from the physical evidence on-site.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24So what's going on?
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Why have so many theories been produced
0:47:26 > 0:47:29and where are they coming from?
0:47:29 > 0:47:31Most have emerged from Russia.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii...
0:47:36 > 0:47:38Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45One former Russian TV producer has tracked how the Kremlin has adapted
0:47:45 > 0:47:49the doctrine of "Maskirovka", or military deception,
0:47:49 > 0:47:51for the digital age.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55Vladimir Putin has complete control over the Russian media.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59Russian TV now works essentially like a cult will work,
0:47:59 > 0:48:01so nonstop conspiracy theories.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04The idea is just to pulverise people's heads.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07Because when you try to keep up with these conspiracy theories,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09your own critical thinking breaks down.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11So the main thing for the Kremlin is to define what
0:48:11 > 0:48:14people talk about publicly, what they don't talk about publicly.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17That's much more important than the truth.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19If you look at the major television networks,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21if you look at Russia Today, or RT,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24it seems to be very clear that they are operating as an arm
0:48:24 > 0:48:28of the Kremlin and are designed to put out a Russian propaganda line.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31The goal here is to put out lots of different theories
0:48:31 > 0:48:35to raise smoke, to raise dust and to raise confusion,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38and hopefully persuade people that there is no truth here.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41Neither the Russian Foreign Ministry nor
0:48:41 > 0:48:45the manufacturer of the missile would talk to us.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47The Russian government rejects
0:48:47 > 0:48:49any responsibility for the MH17 crash.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54But many have expressed understandable scepticism
0:48:54 > 0:48:56at Russian claims about Ukraine.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04Initially, Russia denied having any soldiers anywhere in Ukraine.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10President Putin himself said, "The guys who are taking over Crimea,
0:49:10 > 0:49:12"they are not Russian soldiers, they are locals."
0:49:12 > 0:49:15And then in April, he says, "Yeah, they were Russian soldiers."
0:49:15 > 0:49:18And he presents in the Kremlin commendations to
0:49:18 > 0:49:20the Russian commanders of those forces.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23Now, why we should accept his denial now that
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Russian forces are in eastern Ukraine,
0:49:25 > 0:49:27I just don't understand that.
0:49:27 > 0:49:28We have seen this show before.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35The beleaguered Ukrainian government is eager to
0:49:35 > 0:49:37turn the tables on Russia.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44Russians will try to present their own version of truth.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47Because there is no truth in Russia.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49And the reason is simple as it is.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51They know who committed this crime.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56And they are scared of being brought to justice.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02But the Ukrainian government was not let off the hook.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05The official report criticised Ukraine for failing to close
0:50:05 > 0:50:09the airspace over the warzone to civilian aircraft.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Even though its own planes had been shot down.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16We fully implemented all the regulations
0:50:16 > 0:50:20and we worked in accordance with ordinary practice.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Let me put aside the conspiracy,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24let's talk only about the facts.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30MH17 was shot down by the missile system.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34The system was made in Russia.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37The system was supplied by Russians.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41The system was operated by those in the know.
0:50:42 > 0:50:44And Russia knows this.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48Why these innocent people have been killed is due to the fact
0:50:48 > 0:50:54that Russians supplied a surface-to-air missile system
0:50:54 > 0:50:56to Russian-led terrorists,
0:50:56 > 0:50:58and they committed this crime.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04A team of criminal investigators led by the Dutch
0:51:04 > 0:51:06and assisted by Ukrainians, Belgians and Australians
0:51:06 > 0:51:10is now tasked with finding the culprits.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14But there is already a mass of evidence pointing not just
0:51:14 > 0:51:18to the pro-Russian rebels, but also to Russia itself.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24An important clue lies inside these vehicles.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28The Ukrainian Army showed us a Buk missile system.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31Normally there are a number of different vehicles,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35including radar and command units.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38But MH17 is thought to have been shot down by
0:51:38 > 0:51:43a solitary missile launcher using its in-built radar.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45It is impossible to operate it without any training.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48If you don't know the meaning of every switch
0:51:48 > 0:51:51and every indicator, you just cannot switch it on.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53It points to some professional military,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56professional operators of these sorts of systems.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58And professionals, they have been sitting
0:51:58 > 0:52:00on the Russian side of the border.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06So the online investigators Bellingcat
0:52:06 > 0:52:08traced the secret movements
0:52:08 > 0:52:11of the Russian Army, and they did so by just looking at
0:52:11 > 0:52:16the social media posts of passing drivers and soldiers themselves.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23They tracked a large convoy
0:52:23 > 0:52:26from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade
0:52:26 > 0:52:28as it headed from Kursk in western Russia
0:52:28 > 0:52:31towards the Ukrainian border.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35All this just a month before the MH17 crash.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39It's actually remarkable how much information
0:52:39 > 0:52:40we have been able to find.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42We can actually read the number plates,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44and it was from the Moscow military region,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47and there was only one air defence brigade in that region.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50And we found hundreds of social media accounts belonging
0:52:50 > 0:52:53to soldiers of that brigade.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56And then Bellingcat said they made a breakthrough.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00They spotted in the convoy the same missile launcher that had been
0:53:00 > 0:53:04seen on the day of the crash in eastern Ukraine.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07Its markings look the same, partially obscured,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10but with the numbers "3" and "2" just visible.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17We can name many of the soldiers who were part of the convoy,
0:53:17 > 0:53:19we can say who the commanders were.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22We can't say, "This is the guy who pressed the button", but we can
0:53:22 > 0:53:26certainly give a list of people the police should be speaking to.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28And there is a reason Russian soldiers, tanks
0:53:28 > 0:53:33and now even missile launchers were heading west.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38By the summer of 2014, the pro-Russian rebels
0:53:38 > 0:53:41were under siege from the ground and from the air.
0:53:41 > 0:53:42GUNFIRE
0:53:45 > 0:53:49Just two days before MH17 crashed, a few miles to the North,
0:53:49 > 0:53:53this apartment block was hit by Ukrainian jets.
0:53:55 > 0:53:5811 civilians where killed, including a child.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05The rebels relied on increasingly powerful ground-to-air missiles.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09In the three days before MH17 crashed, a transport plane
0:54:09 > 0:54:14and an Su-25 flying at 20,000 feet were shot down.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19The rebels themselves had no air force.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25There was no air threat to Ukraine.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28And Ukraine wasn't deploying air defence units to the fighting,
0:54:28 > 0:54:29because it didn't need them.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32The only air defence units being deployed to the fighting
0:54:32 > 0:54:35were by the rebels, because Ukraine has an air force
0:54:35 > 0:54:36and was using it in the fighting.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40The Dutch investigators have published a phone conversation
0:54:40 > 0:54:43intercepted by the Ukrainian security service.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48A rebel soldier called Bezler is heard talking to, allegedly,
0:54:48 > 0:54:50a serving Russian military officer.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12A few minutes later, the rebel military commander, Igor Strelkov,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14posted online that the rebels had shot down
0:55:14 > 0:55:17a large Ukrainian military transport plane.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24"We just took down an Antonov 26. We warned you - do not fly in our sky."
0:55:24 > 0:55:29And he suggested an Su-25 might also have been shot down.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Strelkov's post was soon deleted
0:55:34 > 0:55:37and he later denied claiming any responsibility.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42But in one video, rebel soldiers arrive at the crash scene,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45and they can be heard talking about a Ukrainian fighter jet.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58Sushka is the nickname for an Su-25.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02I don't think that the separatists or whoever is launching that
0:56:02 > 0:56:05Buk missile intended to shoot down a civilian airliner,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09they thought they were shooting down a Ukrainian military aircraft,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12but they didn't check, and they still bear responsibility.
0:56:18 > 0:56:23The fight for justice for the victims of MH17
0:56:23 > 0:56:25is slow and tortuous.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29It's all the worse because this tragedy is now central to
0:56:29 > 0:56:32a bitter proxy war between Russia and the West
0:56:32 > 0:56:34over the future of Ukraine.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39There's a whole lot of war going on on the social media
0:56:39 > 0:56:43about this MH17 situation.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47They seem to lose the whole point of why we want to know who did it.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Not because we want to point fingers at somebody,
0:56:50 > 0:56:53but because they murdered innocent people.
0:57:01 > 0:57:02I don't believe the propaganda.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07We've heard so many stories from the Russian side,
0:57:07 > 0:57:10they come up with a story every now and then, so...
0:57:12 > 0:57:15I don't believe anything Russia says.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20And Ukraine, I don't know, I don't trust Ukraine as well.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28Silene has kept Bryce and Daisy's bedroom as they left it.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33That's the last thing we have from them.
0:57:35 > 0:57:41If I should change the room, it will mean to me that they didn't exist.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49Many questions have been answered.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54But the task of bringing those responsible to justice
0:57:54 > 0:57:55has a long way to go.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58We'll go to the end. Yeah.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04Until the day I close my eyes, I will keep fighting for the truth.
0:58:04 > 0:58:05And justice.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16WIND HOWLS
0:58:58 > 0:59:01Look how far we've come.
0:59:01 > 0:59:03It's a family united.
0:59:03 > 0:59:06The Russians have made contact.
0:59:06 > 0:59:09They are very dangerous people.
0:59:09 > 0:59:10So are we.