Kyiv: missile strike or terrorist act are among Ukrainian airliner crash possible causes
Ukraine will look into the possibility that the Ukrainian International Airlines passenger aircraft was downed by a missile launched from a Russian-made missile defense system Tor and intends to look for the wreckage of the missile, wrote the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov on his Facebook page.
Danilov said that the Ukrainian State Investigative Commission, consisting of 45 people from 12 ministries and departments, has arrived in Tehran.
According to the Secretary of the National Security Council, a meeting is currently under way with Iran’s representative, including Iran Civil Aviation Organization (CAO.IRI).
Various causes of the tragedy are discussed during the meeting. Among the main scenarios is the possible downing of the airliner by a missile and, in particular, by a missile from a Tor missile system.
It is also possible that the airliner collided win a drone or another flying object. Another possible cause is an explosion on board the plane or an engine failure.
It is also possible that an explosion was as a result of a terrorist act.
Danilov noted that the commission includes specialists who took part in the international investigation into the downing of the Malaysian Boeing MH-17 on July 17, 2014 in the skies over Donbass and who studied the fragments of the Russian BUk anti-aircraft missile, which shot down the Malaysian plane.
"As you know, our experts have shown a high level of professionalism in this case," Danilov added.
Currently, the commission is working out with the Iranian authorities the possibility of visiting the crash site where the specialists are going to start searching for the wreckage of the Tor missile, taking into account the information that was published on the Internet.
"At the moment, we are holding effective diplomatic negotiations with the Iranian side, there is every reason to hope for cooperation on all issues, including the participation of our commission in deciphering the recordings from the black boxes of our aircraft," the secretary concluded.
According to Danilov, Ukrainian President Zelensky personally oversees the investigation and the public and the media will be informed on its progress.
Earlier, a photograph of the warhead of the TOR missile, allegedly found at the crash site, was published on the internet.