Faking it - Ukraine's SBU and the Daily Mail

Bogus photos of ‘Russian’ air-defense systems in Ukraine debunked by bloggers

RT,

23 July, 2014

Still from VK.com video/love_donbass

Although even American officials have privately admitted that there is no evidence that Russia is involved in the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 disaster on July 17, Kiev has its own idea.Ukraine continues to concoct evidence of Russia’s air defense system’s involvement in the Boeing tragedy. This time Ukraine’s secret service has published as ‘proof’ month–old photos of Kiev’s own Buk-M missile system, claiming it is Russian.

On July 19, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) published some indistinct photos on its website, alleging they show Russia secretly withdrawing its Buk-M (NATO designation SA-11) surface-to-air missile system from the conflict zone in Ukraine.

As of Wednesday, July 23, the photos remain on the intelligence service’s site.

Screenshot from www.sbu.gov.ua

“The SBU has taken measures within the investigation and is getting clear evidence of Russian citizens’ involvement in the terrorist attack (on the Malaysian Airlines Boeing),” the head of the SBU, Vitaly Naida, told journalists at a media briefing.

But bloggers immediately noticed that the photos depict Ukraine’s own air defense complex, previously pictured in March this year: it has been identified by its ‘312’ side number.

In order to make this dubious evidence, the SBU took a still image from video filmed back in March, when several Buk-M systems were observed at the Yasinovataya settlement to the north of Donetsk..

In the video snow is quite visible and people are wearing warm clothes, whereas the SBU maintains that the picture shows a Russian Buk-M being transported back to Russia on July 18, the day after the Boeing 777 was taken down in the Donetsk region.

In another video taken in March, the same Ukrainian Buk-M complexes were seen advancing in a column. Ukrainian media reported that the country’s military was concentrating its air defenses closer to the Russian border to repel an “invasion.”

The complex with “312” on its side is third in the column.

Photo from http://censor.net.ua

In addition, the Ukrainian photos show a single missile launcher vehicle, whereas in reality a Buk-M complex consists of at least four vehicles: missile launcher, radar, command vehicle and transporter loader.

Russia’s Defense Ministry presented satellite photos of the area where the Boeing was downed, showing a number of Ukrainian Buk-M vehicles stationed there immediately prior to the tragedy.

The US, which also monitors Ukrainian territory with satellites, has not rushed to publish photos of Russian military vehicles in Ukraine which simply couldn’t move there unnoticed.

Apart from a number of Ukrainian Buk-M complexes stationed in the area close to the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight crash site, Russian military detected a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet gaining height towards the doomed Boeing 777 at the time of the catastrophe on July 17.

So far Kiev has not explained why a military jet was tracking a passenger airplane.

Hunted down Ukrainian soldier

Ukraine army conscript, Sergey Paschenko, has got into hot water after publishing a selfie against several Buk-M vehicles he was assigned to guard on his social network page VKontakte.

Blogosphere inhabitants immediately called him “separatist” and “Russian terrorist,” and threatened to kill him. The flow of insults forced Paschenko to delete the photo from his page.

But it was already too late as even the British Daily Mail newspaper in the UK had published an articleon him, accompanied by his hapless Buk-M photo.

Screenshot from www.dailymail.co.uk

“Is this the smoking gun? This picture has emerged of a pro-Russian rebel posing in front of the same type of Buk missile launcher that is believed to have shot down MH17,” said the Daily Mail caption to the photo.

Those who pointed out that a Ukrainian soldier cannot be a “Russian terrorist” at the same time were largely ignored.

Sergey Paschenko finally changed his status in the network to the following:

“I do not take part in hostilities, civil war is not for me; oligarchs are carving power whereas ordinary people are dying like flies.”

The Daily Mail readers left quite a number of indignant comments about the Sergey Paschenko article, demanding the news outlet delete the obnoxious text.

“DM must apology (sic) for the lie to readers with deliberate misinformation cynically twisting the truth. That is unbelievable!!!” (Elena Malakhova, London, United Kingdom)

“OK, this is the worst article the Daily Mail has published yet. The satellite images are from the Russian government and show Ukrainian (Kiev junta) Buk systems. At the same press conference the Russian military released these photos, they also rubbished previous propaganda photos of Buk missile systems published by the Western media on the back of a truck said to be in Russia, but which they proved had been taken in Ukraine in a town controlled by the Kiev junta since 19th May. The DM is telling outright lies now.” (Stan is laughski, London, United Kingdom)

"Oops! Shot yourselves in the foot DM? You are clearly overly eager to pin blame, but please don't peddle deliberate distortions. Your first Satellite photo indeed shows BUK Missile systems near the MH17 crash site on 17 July 2014 - but deployed by the KIEV GOVERNMENT (NOT by pro-Russian Separatists). The original caption to the Photo is ‘Buk missile defense units in Zaroschinskoe, 50km south of Donetsk city and 8km south of Shakhtyorsk, on July 17, 2014. Photo courtesy of the Russian Defense Ministry.’ Your second and third photos are from the same source, showing the BUK Missile systems 5 km from Donetsk present on 14 July 2014, but missing on 17 July 2014. Will you publish a correction, with an apology for lying to your readers with deliberate misinformation cynically twisting the truth?" (Steven Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom).

The Daily Mail article is available HERE