A controversial report by British expert Elliot Higgins has claimed that the Russian Ministry of Defence knowingly faked satellite images in an attempt to shift blame for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The flight was shot down in July 2014 near Torez in Ukraine, with the loss of 298 lives.

At a press conference held in the following days, the Russian MoD showed off satellite images which seemed to show Ukrainian surface-to-air missiles within range of the flight.

Analysis of Google Earth images of the same area by expert Elliot Higgins suggests that Russian officials doctored satellite images to suggest that Ukrainian forces were in the area.




Higgins’s organisation Bellingcat says, ‘The Russian MoD stated at the press conference that the satellite photos show the activities of Ukraine’s air defences on the day that Flight MH17 was shot down.

‘In particular, the position of two Ukrainian Buk missile launchers south of the village Zaroschinskoe were shown to be within firing range of MH17.’

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Pieces of plane and passenger belongins on the main crash site near Grabovo village MH17 – HOLD FOR KEITH POOLE

Higgins suggests that the images in fact date from a month earlier, and seem to have been chosen to place a Ukrainian missile launcher within range of the flight.

On his website, Higgins shows how anyone using Google Earth Pro can see evidence that the images are mis-dated.

Bellingcat says, ‘The discrepancies visible in the Russian MoD satellite map imagery which shows they are incorrectly dated are visible in publicly available imagery on Google Earth.’

‘Error level analysis of the images also reveal the images have been edited.’

‘These claims, representing the majority of information publicly presented by the Russian government since the downing of Flight MH17, are a clear attempt by the Russian government to deceive the public, global community, and the families of the Flight MH17 victims, only days after Flight MH17 was shot down.’

The airline has been left ‘technically bankrupt,’ after the crash, according to analysts, and aims to cut 6,000 of its 20,000 staff.