The leader of the pro-Russian rebels accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 said his forces did not have any of the surface-to-air missiles as alleged by American and other Western governments.
“I can list all of the means of defence that we have. All of these means of defence are capable of only crashing low-flying targets.”
Borodai dismissed the widely held belief that rebel forces had shot down the Boeing 777-200 over the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, killing all 298 people on board.
"I don't know what to say because the world community doesn't want to hear it. We had no reason to take down this plane and Ukraine had this reason to destroy our government," he said.
Borodoi was also asked about a Twitter post, which Western intelligence had cited as proof that rebel forces had the BUK, a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile system capable of long-range attack.
"It is very simple to disprove it. All the information that comes through the Internet, in my opinion, is practically all lies.”
He said his forces had nothing to gain in shooting down a civilian airliner, adding that for "Ukraine our enemy, the crash of this plane is very beneficial,” said Borodai.
Borodai, however, refused to answer Cuomo's question on the support his forces were getting from Moscow, saying he would not comment on questions touching on Russia as he only represented the breakaway government he headed.
The interview is the first direct comments from the top rebel chief since the shooting down of flight MH17, which departed Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur, on July 17.
Coinciding with Borodai's rejection of the allegations against his forces is a claim by Russia that a Ukrainian fighter jet could have brought down the Boeing 777.
Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, said that a Ukrainian fighter jet, a Su-25, had tailed flight MH17 moments before it crashed.
He said the MAS airliner lost speed at 17.20 and disappeared from radar screens at 17.23. It then veered off its course to the north over Donetsk, at one point as much as 14km.
"The reason for flying off the course – whether the crew made a navigational error or followed Ukrainian air traffic control commands – can be learned only from flight recorders, known as 'black boxes' and from recorded communications of the air traffic control," said Kartapolov.
Rebel forces yesterday handed over the black boxes, which could shed light on flight MH17's final moments, to Malaysian officials, following a deal reached between the two parties.
- TMI
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