Russian President, Vladimir Putin:

Russian Defense Ministry, on Monday accused Ukraine of hiding vital data on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash and is manipulating the investigation of the 2014 catastrophe.

Igor Konashenkov, Ministry’s Spokesman, said that it is no coincidence that the Ukrainian side concealed from investigators, relatives of the people killed and the world community the information that would help provide a comprehensive picture of the air crash.

The spokesman added that Ukrain has also refuted conclusions contained in the Dutch Safety Board report about possible presence of heavy air defense systems in Eastern Ukraine, which were not controlled by Ukrainian government forces.

Konashenkov said that Moscow intended to provide the Dutch investigators with “objective and irrefutable” data, which would help them to “determine the true causes of the crash.

Andrei Koban, Head of the Russian Radio-Technical Troops, said that available electronic intelligence data showed that Ukrainian radars operating in the area of the disaster, which should have monitored the flight.

The official said that Ukraine’s attempts to hide vital data about the incident could be aimed at covering the launch of the missile which hit the plane from the territory controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Koban said that Russian radars have not registered any missiles shot from the region controlled by the insurgents.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that on July 17, 2014, a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crashed in eastern Ukraine while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

All 298 people on board died, most of them Dutch citizens.

The Western investigators and Kiev have been claiming that pro-independence insurgents in eastern Ukraine shot down the aircraft, while Moscow has been denying the allegations and retorting that the plane had been shot by a missile from the territory controlled by Ukrainian government troops. (Xinhua/NAN)