Dutch investigators question former separatist commander over MH17 air disaster
One of the leaders of the DPR, Igor Bezler (the former "commandant" of Horlivka with the call sign "Bes"), who currently lives in the annexed Crimea, talked to Dutch investigators (JIT) regarding the downed passenger flight, Boeing MH17, in July of 2014, Current Time reports.
He discussed the conversation online. The authenticity of the account, from which the correspondence was conducted, was confirmed by his interlocutors.
"In his testimony, Igor Bezler said he was not involved in the MH17 crash. In particular, he once again stressed that the tractor carrying the Buk missile did not pass through Horlivka. He said the wiretaps published on the Web, where a person under his call sign reports a downed plane, while other separatists report that MH17 was shot down by certain ‘Cossacks’ is fake," the newspaper reports.
At the same time, it is noted that Bes confirmed that he was in fact downing a Ukrainian military aircraft. As a proof of his innocence, the former field commander referred to "witnesses, including Ukrainian prisoners of war who were at his headquarters in July 2014," who were also interviewed by an international investigation team.
"Igor Bezler repeatedly said that after his departure from the Donbas he has been living in the Crimea. He received permission to speak with foreign investigators, but from whom, he would not specify," the report said.
The international investigation group believes that the tractor with the Buk could have traveled through the cities controlled by Bezler’s forces at the time. According to JIT, on the day the Boeing was shot down, the missile system was transported along the Donetsk - Yenakiieve - Torez – Snizhne route.
The coordinator of the Bellingcat investigation team, Aric Toler, considers Bezler to be an important witness in the MN17 case.
"He is a very important character in this investigation. His subordinates were not far from the Buk when it fired at the Boeing. And he was mentioned in conversations between the separatists about transporting the Buk and using the Buk. I do not know who was behind the wheel of the Buk during the launch, but I know that Igor Bezler was a very, very important person in this investigation who knows who was behind the wheel, and what people were involved in transporting the Buk from Russia to Ukraine and back," he said.
Earlier, the Bellingcat group published a number of new videos and photos on Twitter of the Buk missile system that shot down the Malaysian Boeing flight MH17.
Later, the Bellingcat group and journalists from The Insider conducted their investigation and came to the conclusion that the chief inspector of the Central Military District of Russia, Colonel-General Nikolai Tkachev (call sign Dolphin) is one of the key participants in the "MH17 case."