On July 17, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane crashed in the war-torn region of eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers were killed in the crash. Although a Dutch investigation found Russia responsible for shooting down the plane, theories as to what truly happened to MH17 continue to circulate in the media.
Russia is responsible for the MH17 crash
The Dutch government launched an investigation that resulted in overwhelming evidence displaying that Russia was responsible for the MH17 crash.
Russia shot down MH17 because they believed it was a Ukrainian military transport
Overwhelming amounts of evidence display that Russia provided Ukrainian separatists and Russian soldiers in Ukraine with a Buk missile to shoot down MH17 because they believed it was a Ukrainian military transport plane.
Russia shot down MH17 in order to justify an invasion of Ukraine
Shortly after the MH17 crash, the Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) declared in a press conference that they believed that Russia actually meant to shoot down Aeroflot Flight 2074, a Russian passenger craft. This would have given the Russians a reason to invade Ukraine officially.
Many Russian media sources have been claiming that Ukraine was responsible for shooting down flight MH17 even before the release of the findings from the Dutch investigation.
Ukraine used fighter planes to shoot down MH17
The theory that Ukraine shot down MH17 using Su-25 fighter planes emerged after multiple witnesses stated seeing multiple Ukrainian planes in the air with the MH17 passenger plane that day.
Although the Dutch investigation revealed that MH17 was shot down by a Russian Buk missile, many believe that a Ukrainian Buk missile is actually responsible for the crash.
The MH17 Crash was not related to the conflict in Ukraine
Although it is assumed by many that the crash of MH17 is related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine because the flight went down in a region where there were currently battles taking place, there are many who believe that the MH17 crash was unrelated to this conflict and was caused by outside forces.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orchestrated the MH17 crash
This theory, spawning from Iranian media states that the Israeli prime minister shot down MH17 in order to distract the world from Israel's actions in Gaza.
