Russian official calls Dutch MH-17 report ‘biased’

A top Russian official says the Dutch Safety Board report into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is flawed.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says Tuesday the “attempt to make a biased conclusion, in essence to carry out a political order, is obvious.” The Dutch say the Buk missile that brought the plane down was fired from a specific territory in eastern Ukraine — land that was held at the time by Russia-backed separatists.

Even before the Dutch report was released, the Russian maker of Buk missiles presented its own report trying to clear the separatists, and Russia itself, of any involvement in downing the plane.

Almaz-Antey contended that its experiments — in one of which a Buk missile was detonated near the nose of an airplane similar to a 777 — contradict that conclusion. The experimental aircraft’s remains showed a much different damage pattern than the remnants of MH17, the company said.

Rebel leaders in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk refused to comment Tuesday on the Dutch report.