High-ranking Russian GRU officer linked to downing of MH17

The research group described Ivannikov as being on active duty in eastern Ukraine as an officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Defense Ministry.

Bellingcat said Ivannikov held the post during an “undercover deployment” into eastern Ukraine that began during the first half of 2014 and that he remained in eastern Ukraine until at least 2015.

The research group also said Ivannikov “coordinated and supervised the military activities of Russian militants, pro-Russia separatists,” and contingents of a “private army” from “Wagner group” — a Russian paramilitary organization reportedly associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch and close associate of President Vladimir Putin.

“Ivannikov also supervised the procurement and transport of weapons across the Russia-Ukraine border,” Bellingcat said. “He held these functions at the time of the downing of MH17” in July 2014.

According to the Bellingcat report, Ivannikov was known by militants and separatists under his command in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region as Andrei Ivanovich and under the radio call name “Orion.”

The JIT had said on 24 May that it was seeking the identity of the person known as Andrei Ivanovich, with the call sign “Orion,” in connection with its international criminal investigation into the MH17 downing.

Bellingcat said that in addition to his undercover deployment in eastern Ukraine, Ivannikov had previously worked as a GRU agent to support separatists in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The Bellingcat report said Ivannikov had used the alias Andrei Ivanovich Laptav from 2006 through 2008, when he was the minister of defense and emergencies in the self-declared government of the breakaway region.

Russian denial, Western condemnation
Russia and pro-Russia separatists deny shooting down MH17 and have offered several other theories to explain the tragedy, all of which have been rejected by the JIT.

The JIT comprises investigators from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had not been a fully-fledged participant in JIT’s investigation and could not therefore trust its findings.

Peskov also said he could not comment about the Bellingcat report, saying he was “not familiar with its materials” and did not know “on what basis those conclusions were made.”

But the European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on May 25 both called on Russia to “accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability.”

“The downing of MH17 was a global tragedy, and those responsible must be held accountable,” Stoltenberg said.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also said Russia “must now answer for its action in relation to the downing of MH17.”

“The Kremlin believes it can act with impunity,” Johnson said in a statement. “This is an egregious example of the Kremlin’s disregard for innocent life,” Johnson said, noting that ten British citizens were killed in the shoot down.

Kurt Volker, the special U.S. envoy for Ukraine, said on 24 May that the JIT’s latest report was “very significant” because it underlines “the lack of ambiguity that there is indeed a direct responsibility in Russia.”

“We need Russia to turn the corner here and decided to make piece,” Volker said.

This article is published courtesy of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty