Kerry: MH17 Evidence Points 'Very Clear Finger' at Ukraine Separatists

Secretary of State John Kerry reported that the evidence in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 “points a very clear finger at the separatists” in an interview on Sunday’s broadcast of CNN’s State of the Union.

“It’s pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia in the hands of separatists. We know with confidence, with confidence that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point in time. So it obviously points a very clear finger at the separatists,” Kerry said. “We know for certain that the separatists have a proficiency that they’ve gained by training from Russians, as to how to use these sophisticated sa-11 systems. We know they have the system. We know that they had this system to a certainty on Monday the 14th.”

He refused to say whether Russia was culpable in the attack on MH17, but Kerry added, “Today we have reports of drunken separatists piling the remains of people into trucks in an unceremonious fashion, actually removing them from the location. They are interfering with the evidence in the location. They have removed, we understand, some airplane parts… the fact that the separatists are controlling this in a way that is preventing people from getting there, even as the site is tampered with makes its own statement about culpability and responsibility.” He further called on the Russian government to ensure that proper investigation of the crash site is conducted.

Kerry also reported, “in the last month, there’s been a major flow of arms and weapons. There was a convoy several weeks ago, about 150 vehicles with armed personnel carrier, multiple rocket launchers, tanks, artillery, all of which crossed over from Russia into the eastern part of Ukraine, and was turned over to the separatists.”

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