Pro-Russian Separatists Say They Have Found MH17's Black Boxes
Donetsk rebel leader Aleksander Borodai told reporters that what he believes are the black recording boxes from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 have been found and are being kept in Donetsk. From Reuters:
"Some items, presumably the black boxes, were found, and they have been delivered to Donetsk and they are under our control...There are no specialists among us who could pinpoint the look of the black boxes, but we brought to Donetsk some technical items which could be the black boxes of the airliner."
Reuters also released what is thought to be footage of the discovery, which naturally ended up on this segment on CNN:
Ukrainian officials have also confirmed they believe that the rebels have secured the black boxes.
Ukraine officials (live @ABCNews24) "We don't have the black box in our possession..our suspicion is it's in "hands of the terrorists" #mh17
— Natasha Mitchell (@natashamitchell) July 20, 2014
According to reports, but not all reports, the rebels have pledged to hand the black boxes over to aviation officials.
As we previously reported, both the United States and Ukraine made the case that they believe the pro-Russian rebels were behind the shooting down of the flight with the assistance of Russian weapons that were delivered across the border.
A few questions now:
Will the black boxes give any insights into what happened?
Will the pro-Russian separatists actually hand them over? In working order?
Is this discovery meaningful, given the evidence already presented against Russia and the pro-Russian separatists in the downing of MH17?
RELATED: U.S. Official Says Russia Gave Missiles to Separatists
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/07/pro-russian-separatists-say-they-have-found-mh17s-black-boxes/374726/
Read more from The Wire
• Russian Media Quickly Abandon Moscow Metro Explosion Story
