GETTY MH-17 crashed over eastern Ukraine killing 298 people

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The Boeing 777 exploded over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing 298 people. The official report concluded that the jet, bound for Kuala Lumpur, was downed by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from a Ukraine area under the control of Russian-backed rebels. The programme will present "competing theories surrounding the fate of MH17, including the evidence for and against those involving Russia, Ukraine and the CIA", a spokesperson for the BBC said. Among the theories being presented is the one that a Ukrainian fighter jet may have shot down the aircraft. But the BBC documentary will also show evidence from experts saying Ukranian fighter jets couldn't have flown at the right altitude to fire on MH17.

Another theory is that a CIA-backed “terrorist operation” planted two bombs on the airliner.

We heard a bang. At first we saw black smoke and two planes, little ones like silver toys Witness Natasha Beronina

Witnesses directly beneath the exploding aircraft report seeing at least one fighter jet. Natasha Beronina said: “It was summer, harvest time. We heard a bang. At first we saw black smoke and two planes, little ones like silver toys. One flew straight on and the other one turned round when the bang happened and flew back from where it had come.” German investigative journalist Billy Six interviewed 100 witnesses, seven of whom said they saw a fighter jet.

GETTY The fuselage of MH-17 was reconstructed as part of the investigation

Six said: “One of them even told me how he saw it launch a missile. It was like a small line in the sky going into the clouds. Then he heard the big boom.” He believes two jets shot it down – one firing a canon from the back into the cockpit to destroy the crew. Then another fired an air-to-air missile. In the intense propaganda war between Ukraine and Moscow, Russia media reported the name of a pilot they believed was responsible, Captain Vladislav Voloshin, based at a southern Ukraine airfield. In an interview, he denied the allegations made by a mechanic on the base.

GETTY Captain Vladislav Voloshin denies he was responsible for the crash

He said: “We did not carry out flights on July 17. The mechanic also says that three aircraft went out on a mission and I was the only one to return. But again this actually happened on the 23rd. “He said that the aircraft was carrying air-to-air missiles. There were no air-to-air missiles. I was carrying air-to-surface weapons for ground targets.” The most shocking allegations come from private investigator Sergey Sokolov. He deployed more than 100 of his agents to investigate the site and examine evidence. He said they found no shrapnel from a Buk missile. Sokolov said he was “sold” a phone intercept between two CIA agents that suggests they masterminded the planting two bombs on MH-17.

GETTY Private investigator Sergey Sokolovhad over 100 agents at the crash site and examining evidence