He claimed the Russian military detected two missile launches from Ukraine-controlled areas that hit the aircraft.
“Almost certainly, it was American Patriot programs or European, in all probability French,” Putin mentioned. POLITICO couldn’t independently confirm his claims.
Putin refuted theories of “pleasant hearth” for the downing of the plane. “There are friend-or-foe programs, and regardless of what number of instances the operator presses the button, our air protection programs wouldn’t have engaged,” Putin mentioned.
“We solely remorse about our pilots,” he added.
Russia’s Investigative Committee reported amassing the stays and paperwork of deceased Ukrainian servicemen. Russia has sole entry to the crash web site.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday referred to as for a world investigation into the crash. Kyiv mentioned it couldn’t affirm the aircraft carried Ukrainian POWs. Ukrainian media initially reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces downed the aircraft.