Crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17/Zaroshchenskoye

A number of Russian sources claim that MH17 was shot down by a BUK missile fired by Ukrainian forces from Zaroshchenskoye south of Shakhtarsk.
 * 1) Satellite photos of alleged Ukrainian BUK missile launchers in Zaroshchenskoye, presented by the Russian Ministry of Defense in their briefing on July 21, 2014.
 * 2) Technical analysis of the shrapnel damage by Almaz-Antey that backtracks the flight path and launch site to within 1.5 km of Zaroshchenskoye.
 * 3) Alleged anonymous Ukrainian sources, that claim MH17 was shot down by mistake during a training exercise in Zaroshchenskoye.
 * 4) Alleged anonymous US sources, that claim that American satellites had seen an Ukrainian missile crew within firing range of MH17 (possible in or near Zaroshchenskoye.)
 * Tactical map of the 95th Brigade from July captured by DPR forces showing a BUK battery at the alleged launch site.

2015

 * A puzzling new report on the downing of flight MH17 - Hans de Vreij's blog, May 6, 2015
 * Did the Ukrainians shoot down flight MH17? - Hector Reban, June 18, 2015
 * Ukrainian military acknowledges it may have shot down flight MH17 - Systematic, ''OffGuardian, July 27, 2015
 * MH17 – Zaroshchenske - October 18, 2015 (PDF)

2016

 * MH17: On the Resurs-P1 image with "BUK's near Zaroshchens’ke" - Marco Langbroek, January 29 (30), 2016
 * Dutch satellite expert states Russian MoD Zaroshensk’ye satellite photo is fake - What happened to flight MH17, January 29, 2016
 * The image (reproduced above) purports to show Ukranian BUK installations in a field near Zaroshchens'ke in Ukraine, 47 deg 59' 00" N, 38 deg 27' 05" E. Text on the image states it was taken on 17 July 2014 at 11:32 (no timezone given, but presumably standard Moscow Time, UTC +3) -sattrackcam.blogspot.nl
 * Time may be a mistake, there is summer time in Moscow, that is UTC +4 in summer; so then time when image is said to be taken, 7:32 UTC. As it is one hour earlier, a place on Earth will be further West due to Earth rotation, compared to his account. (And satellite will be elsewhere too). (Please correct if something is wrong). But apparently he gives visual 'path' of satellite, which he says is to the West of their at any time, so this may not make much difference to the conclusion. Does he really know the 'path' (and right satellite?) -not clear.
 * He really need to give full details how he got to his conclusion, to discuss it further. Resurs is on the so-called -'solar stationary' orbit; that means, re-appearing at about the same local time, but also, eastward precession of the orbit at 1 degree per day, due o non-spherical earth effects and to compensate for yearly cycle. Also it can maneuver to perform photo tasks, presumably. So, he ought to give full details how 'path' in his graphics was determined, and send full details to Russian MOD for comment. This is a commercial satellite, presumably there are military ones not widely known, he watches over them all or what? With all their precessions and maneuvers, -and unpublished orbits to begin with? -RS.

Resurs P1 tracking is here. Period is 94 minutes, appearing further West on each loop due to Earth rotation. On the next day, will not appear in the same place, as 94 does not divide number of minutes in a day; likely will repeat eventually, or else wander around. Resurs P1 has engine (integrated engine installation/vernier engine installation), so it can adjust the orbit, in addition to predictable changes due to Earth rotation.

Persona is a reconnaissance sattelite derived from Resurs family. Cosmos 2486 apparently is one of them, and is on a close orbit with about a half-period delay. Similarly to Resurs has engine and can adjust orbit (without notifying Sattrackcam about that).

Sattrackcam testified in a hearing of the committee for Foreign Affairs of Dutch Parliament in the Hague, as external expert on satellite tracking. This is a bit strange thing to do (if some weight is attached to the testimony further down the road), as there are huge number of satellites and accurately tracking them on a given day is a onerous, especially for an amateur observation enterprise. In the end of the day, they probably do some observations and than let software do the rest (without software, very likely a confusion, what is where and how it is called). But if something changes (maneuvers, accumulated precession, etc), their software is not going to tell them about it. So they may be believing in some spotting prediction, but it does not mean the prediction is true.

Almaz-Antry report

 * MH17: Russian missile-maker Almaz Antey contradicts Dutch report, says plane downed by outdated BUK missile fired from Ukrainian military controlled village of Zaroshchenskoye - Belfast Telegraph, October 13, 2015

Map

 * На карте украинских силовиков за июль 2014 года отмечены позиции ЗРК «Бук» — Басурин - DAN News, April 30, 2015
 * Basurin sez Captured Junta Maps Shows Positions of Buk SAM Units in July 2014 - Voices from Russia, April 30, 2015
 * DPR: Map discovered with positions of Ukrainian BUKs on day of MH17 crash (updated) - Systematic, OffGuardian, April 30, 2015

Debunk attempts

 * Russia Update: Challenges to Engineers’ Report in Novaya Gazeta on Downing of MH17 - Interpreter Mag Liveblog Team, May 7, 2015
 * Ukraine Live Day 451: Pictures Posted to Russian Social Media Prove Buk That Shot Down MH17 Was In Russia Before The Incident - Interpreter Mag Liveblog Team, May 14, 2015
 * MH17-Abschuss - So kreativ spielte der Kreml mit Photoshop - n-tv, June 10, 2015
 * ‘There Was No Buk in Our Field’ - Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, The Interpreter, June 10, 2015
 * Zaroshchens'ke Launch Site - Claims and Reality - Klement Anders, Nathan Patin, Bellingcat, July 2015
 * 'Er was hier geen Buk-raket' ('There was no BUK missile here') - NOS, October 12, 2015

Bellingcat

 * Zaroshchens'ke Launch Site - Claims and Reality - Klement Anders
 * New July 17th Satellite Imagery Confirms Russia Produced Fake MH17 Evidence - Eliot Higgins, Bellingcat, June 12, 2015
 * Only compares images from Donetsk AA base. Does not address Zaroshchenskoye at all.