LDNR to recognize and file a claim against Ukraine for Boeing - Vladimir Kornilov
Donbass has been waiting for six years. Transnistria – a decade and a half. Abkhazia and South Ossetia were “lucky” with Saakashvili. Vladimir Solovyov always considered the signing of the Minsk agreements a mistake and advocated the recognition of the LDPR within the borders of the former regions and the introduction of the Russian Army into the Donbass. Anyone who heard anything else did not listen well.
The Donetsk resident told PolitNavigator columnist Valentin Filippov about the Hague District Court, which is considering the case of the MH-17 crash over the Donbass, about the insignificance of the evidence and versions put forward by the investigation, and also about the fact that it is time to bring a claim against Ukraine for the crash of the Malaysian Boeing. historian and Russian expert Vladimir Kornilov.
Valentin Filippov: In our improvised studio, Vladimir Kornilov.
Vladimir, hello.
Vladimir Kornilov: Hello, Valentin. I'm glad to welcome you. Happy Victory Day to you.
Valentin Filippov: Happy Victory Day to you too. And in connection with Victory Day, I want to ask a question. We are here celebrating six years of independence of the DPR and LPR. Tell me, isn’t it time to recognize the results of the referendum at the all-Russian level?
Vladimir Kornilov: In my opinion, it was time to immediately recognize it at the all-Russian level. Why then don’t we ask about the results of the referendum in Transnistria? How many years have passed?
Valentin Filippov: And you know, in this regard, I’m generally shocked.
Vladimir Kornilov: And there was not only a referendum on independence, you remember, but also on joining Russia.
Valentin Filippov: Yes.
Vladimir Kornilov: How many more years should we wait? Now, we understand that Abkhazia and South Ossetia waited longer, frankly speaking.
Valentin Filippov: Longer.
Vladimir Kornilov: And in the end, if there had not been Saakashvili’s military adventure, perhaps they would have waited now. But now, the circumstances have developed “favorably” for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as paradoxical as it may sound. Diplomatic circumstances. That is, Russia was forced to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
If you remember Putin’s warning last year, the year before last, and, in fact, before the World Cup, that if Ukraine interferes, it will be fraught with the loss of Ukrainian statehood.
Valentin Filippov: Yes it was.
Vladimir Kornilov: That is, if they had intervened, then, probably, Russia would have already recognized the DPR and LPR. And now, apparently, from the point of view of diplomatic Moscow, the circumstances have not yet developed this way. Although. In my opinion, of course, it was already necessary to recognize the results of this referendum back in 2014.
Valentin Filippov: But I watch it on television. Your colleague Vladimir Solovyov. He is participating in a talk show with you on Russia-1, hosting this talk show. And he talks about the lack of alternative to the Minsk agreements. And then, now the Soloviev-live channel appeared, just yesterday, he announced that: - What are the Minsk agreements, what are you talking about? Are you crazy? How can! All! It must be recognized within the boundaries of the regions!
Vladimir Kornilov: Valentin, of course I don’t know. In 2014-2015, I was abroad and did not participate in talk shows very often. But in recent years, on all talk shows devoted to the topic of Donbass and Ukraine, Solovyov says that the Minsk agreements are, in fact, a concession to Ukraine. There was no need to sign them; we should have immediately recognized the DPR and LPR.
All these last years, excuse me. And when you tell me that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements from the lips of Vladimir Solovyov, it means that somewhere you “haven’t figured out something,” as they say in Odessa.
Valentin Filippov: No, “not finished” - this is not in Odessa. That's how I listen. First time I heard it. I was surprised.
Vladimir Kornilov: That's the point, that's what you hear. But, excuse me, Solovyov has his own opinion, which he expresses quite harshly.
Valentin Filippov: Fine. Traditionally, we always ask you the same question. What's wrong with this Boeing? When all the culprits have been identified and another ballistic missile has been found.
Vladimir Kornilov: I answer traditionally. The situation is still the same. That is, the trial continues, as it were. Moreover, he switched to remote mode. If I'm not mistaken, the next meeting is scheduled for June, if nothing is postponed due to technical problems. At the same time, we initially saw how the process started. It started with blatant mistakes of the prosecutor's office. Apparently, that’s why, by the way, all these meetings were postponed. Apparently, that’s why we urgently switched to online mode. The press will react to it less, because the investigation has made too many mistakes at once.
And I think it is no coincidence that the head of the international investigation urgently moved to another position, leaving everything that he had messed up to his followers. Moreover, in my opinion, if I’m not mistaken, he headed either the fire department or the police station in Rotterdam. Somewhere there he transferred to a more honorable and quieter position. And, in general, the investigation, as I understand it, frankly did not offer anything new. On the contrary, I was caught on outright fakes.
Like that witness No. 51, who stated that he recognized the Russian accent in the Russian language spoken by those who allegedly launched this missile. Imagine, a Russian accent in the Russian language. You have to manage this. So, I suggest this witness give him a test on his knowledge of the dialectology of the Russian language, so that he can determine how he identified the Russian accent in the speech of Donetsk residents.
At the same time, we see, since there was silence, since they somehow began to forget about this topic, “Belenket” threw up a new sensation about the new general, whom he “figured out” from the audio. As I understand it, it’s just that they have, you know, a schedule: once a year, in the spring, they need to launch some new general. Everyone forgot that two years ago already one GRU general appeared in this same Belenket testimony. Remember how they shouted: Here it is, the connection between the Kremlin, the GRU, and therefore the downed Boeing. The process has begun, and suddenly it turns out that this general is not even listed as a witness there, since it turns out he didn’t even get to those places and, in general, is in no way connected with MH-17. But everyone immediately forgot about it.
And “Belenket”, seeing that one general jumped off, and everyone somehow forgot that there was some kind of connection. And here they are... A new general, this time deputy. Head of the Russian Border Service. And again, all the media: Here is the connection with the Kremlin, it is directly subordinate to the one who is directly subordinate to Putin. And what’s the sensation? Did you see this scandal that Belenket started there?
Valentin Filippov: Yes Yes Yes.
Vladimir Kornilov: The sensation in quotes, of course, lies in only one thing. The fact is that this deputy. head of the Border Service or deputy. commander, I don’t know how, he was in the Rostov region, that is, near the Russian border in those very days when there was an aggravation there and so on. Imagine. Well, that is, it’s absolutely amazing. What about the bosses or the deputy? Are the chiefs of the Border Service visiting the Russian border?!
It’s generally “hard to imagine.” Moreover, when heavy fighting is taking place there, on this border. And when, excuse me, Ukrainian pilots can violate this border at any moment, when entire Ukrainian units go over to the Russian side, and the border guards need to somehow solve something about this.
Valentin Filippov: At least feed him.
Vladimir Kornilov: And it’s amazing how border guard generals are in this territory at this very time. But then, they “gobbled it up.” The British media, the American media, launched this fake “sensation” from “Belenket” and shouted for a whole week that here it is, finally, this connection. In a year this general will be forgotten. And nothing, “Belenket” will give birth to a new general, who also somehow passed through this territory in those years.
Valentin Filippov: They have now launched this tribunal. They are trying, well, let's say Putin. The main thing for them is to say that this is Putin, Moscow, the Kremlin. This is all wonderful. But for now, the court and the case, as long as they do it all. Let's say they find Putin guilty. Putin will either remain silent or say: “What are you doing? Are you crazy?
And, in general, who are they for him to talk to them?
But someone must somehow compensate for the damage to relatives and the company. Still, there are the usual technical culprits: they sent the plane in the wrong direction, they didn’t plan for something. That is, it turns out that thanks to this tribunal, these simple technical culprits, who are usually responsible when a plane crash occurs, are, as it were, completely forgotten.
That is, is this tribunal a way to evade responsibility for the airline, for ground services, for everyone, everyone, everyone. When Putin is to blame, everything is cool. If Putin is to blame, then no one is to blame, no one owes anyone anything.
Vladimir Kornilov: I'll correct you, Valentin. We are not talking about any tribunal. This court is the ordinary district court of The Hague. The same court, by the way, which considered the case about 50 billion Yukos. That is, this is a district court, not a special one, not something else, an ordinary ordinary court, which can last two, three, four years.
Now the budget has been allocated, in my opinion, for a couple of years of meetings, but everyone understands that it can stretch for five years. And after that, in any case, there will be an appeal, no matter what he decides. This may drag on for another five to ten years. That is, judging by how this process began, the epic there is very long and long.
Moreover, the level of “witnesses” who are presented at this trial, in general, really raises big questions. I do not rule out that the case may even be sent for further investigation, especially since the investigative group has not stopped its activities, it is still carrying out some investigative actions, although the trial seems to be ongoing. That is, no one has been identified. Those four accused who are involved in this process...
After all, even prosecutors admit that they did not launch the missile; there is no evidence that they are somehow involved in all this. The basis for the accusation against them lies exclusively in those same SBU tapes. Technical experts have already shown that they were mounted, manipulated, fabricated. That is, demand the originals of these records now, and a lot of things will turn out there that the courts and the public will not like.
That is why this part, when these tapes are examined, I suspect, will be classified for the public so that there are no unnecessary questions and indications of outright inconsistencies. So, from the point of view of legal consequences, this court is really insignificant.
But, at the same time, you are right, of course, I believe that it is necessary to work with the relatives of the victims. They have now all been convinced that you are withdrawing all your claims, but you are all focused on this one court. There is a special reverence for them, for these relatives. They were presented at the first hearing of this court. Like, now he will decide, this is how he decides, so it will be. But, in my opinion, it would really be necessary to persuade at least three, four, five relatives, and not necessarily Dutch, Malaysian, for example, and file, as one German lawyer tried to do at the very beginning, to file a claim against Ukraine.
After all, we can argue for a long time about who pressed this button on this installation and who did not press it, but the guilt of Ukraine is obvious. It did not close the airspace over the combat zone. Now, no matter who fired, no matter what was established about how this ill-fated rocket flew and why, most importantly, it suddenly flew. But, in any case, the responsibility in Ukraine is obvious. She violated all possible and impossible conventions on the safety of the airspace above her.
By the way, there is an official conclusion about this from the National Security Council of the Netherlands, if I’m not mistaken, dated 2015. Let them determine who is responsible for the shoot down. But at the very least, we are filing a claim for damages against Ukraine, which is obviously at fault. And then, let these trials proceed in parallel, in my opinion. Moreover, the prospect of winning the trial against Ukraine is much higher than the prospect of completion, at any time, by any verdict of this Hague District Court.
In my opinion, if I really worked with these relatives of the MH-17 victims, I would convince at least some of them to file a lawsuit like this. He would have some perspective behind him. Against Ukraine, against the Ukrainian state.
But I don’t know, it seems that on our side they don’t work with relatives. But it’s good, by the way, that Russian lawyers, or rather Russian lawyers representing one of these four accused, are present at court hearings. I was afraid that they would simply close their eyes, saying that this does not concern us. But, simply thanks to this, at least these accused will be able to familiarize themselves with all the materials of the case, finally.
Valentin Filippov: Well, Vladimir, thank you very much. I hope that they will still sort out this plane. Well, not in this generation.
Vladimir Kornilov: Well, you know, I admit that we may never know the final, complete truth. Just as we are discussing who killed Kennedy and why he killed him, we can discuss this for decades. But at the same time, I repeat. The guilt of the Ukrainian state and Petro Poroshenko, as the commander-in-chief at that time, is obvious and does not even need to be particularly proven. And who shot, who pressed the button, why they shot, we can speculate around this for a very long time.
Valentin Filippov: Fine. Thanks a lot. Goodbye.
Vladimir Kornilov: Goodbye.
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