New “sickening” video related to the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 and aired on Friday purportedly shows Russia-backed rebels rummaging through the bags of dead passengers, triggering fresh demands from top Australian leaders for Russia’s cooperation in the probe.
The 17-minute video, apparently smuggled out of a rebel base in Ukraine, shows the rebels handling the bodies as they express shock that the aircraft they brought down was a commercial one and not a fighter jet.
The video was released by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph on the anniversary of the MH17 attack on July 17 last year. The aircraft was shot out of the sky with what is believed to be a surface-to-air missile by pro-Russian rebels during heavy fighting with Ukrainian forces.
The footage shows the uniformed rebels examining the contents of backpacks and collecting phones and other items as they try to find the black box.
The rebels appear to be surprised that the aircraft was a commercial airliner, not a fighter jet, and can be heard saying “civilians, civilians” and “this is a passenger plane” in Russian.