Claims by Alexander Borodai of Malaysian team attacked by SU-25 & GRAD are incorrect

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Russian TV Channel 1 made a documentary on MH17. Part of the program was an interview with Alexander Borodai. He was a former Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic that declared its independence from Ukraine on 12 May 2014

At around 21 minutes in the program Borodai did a remarkable statement. Here .

The statements he made:

1) When the team of 12 Malaysian experts “arrived near the village of Yasinovataya, their car was attacked from the air by a SU-25 of the Ukrainian air force”, and

2) “on their way to Donetsk, they ended up under a Ukrainian GRAD shelling”.

3) the reason that the Ukrainians did (1) and (2) is to “prevent the team from getting to the MH17 crash site”.

I tried to find evidence for these statements and found none. There are none reports in the Malaysian press, or accusations from the inspectors themselves.

However Russia Today reports on July 22 about an artillery attack.

A group of 12 Malaysian experts and officials witnessed an artillery attack from Ukrainian forces on their way to Donetsk on Monday, according to the militia in the east.

and

Earlier on, the Ukrainian air forces carried out a missile strike in 30 kilometers from the MH17 crash site – despite the 40-kilometer ceasefire.

About 11.30 local time (8.30 GMT), two Ukrainian military planes, thought to be Su-25s, were spotted in the skies above the town of Shakhtersk, which is 30 kilometers from the crash site.

So there indeed were attacks by SU-25s  and there was shelling. Only it was not targeted at those 12 Malaysian experts.

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