Putin behind disappearance of flight MH370, shock claims

The author – who led CNN's coverage of flight MH370's disappearance and has contributed to Time magazine and the New York Times – claims to have new evidence Putin was behind the disaster.

He claims a new report linking Putin to the downing of another Malaysian Airlines plane – flight MH17 – over Ukraine is further proof of his involvement in MH370's disappearance.

Wise claims MH370 – which went missing while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing almost two years ago – was in fact hijacked on the orders of Putin and secretly landed in Kazakhstan.

Wise said hijackers faked the plane's navigation data to make it seem like it went in another direction – but in fact flew it to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is leased from Kazakhstan by Russia.

He based his wild theory on pings the plane gave off for seven hours after it went missing, recorded by British telecommunications company Inmarsat.

UK-based investigative group Bellingcat has released a report blaming Putin for the downing of MH17 – which crashed down in the Ukraine during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

It claims a Russian brigade "provided, and possibly operated" the Buk-M1 missile launcher that brought the aircraft down – killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

An official report by the Dutch Safety Board last year found a Buk missile brought down the airliner but Russia has always denied any involvement – instead blaming Ukrainian forces.

However, Wise claims Bellingcat's new report – which accuses the highest ranks of the Russian military of approving the strike – backs his theory Putin was behind MH370's disappearance.

Writing on his blog, Wise said: "Within four months, two Malaysian Airlines 777s were taken out of the sky under suspicious circumstances.

"Imagine if you were a farmer who’s been raising chickens for many years without incident.

"Then one day, for the first time ever, one of the chickens goes missing.

"Then, the next day, you see the neighbour’s dog jumping over your fence with a second chicken in its mouth.

"Now would you have a theory about what happened to the first chicken?"

The writer claims only a state – rather than individual or group of terrorists – would have the technical capability to swipe MH370.

Wise claims it is inconceivable two different countries would target the same airline.

He writes: "The attack must not only have been state-sponsored, but sponsored by a state with cutting-edge technology in aircraft systems and satellite communications.

"That being the case, if we suppose that MH370 was hijacked by someone other than Russia, then that would mean that two Malaysian Airlines 777s— of which only 15 existed out of a worldwide commercial aircraft fleet of perhaps 18,000 — happened to be targeted within the span of four months by two different major powers."

Wise provides no motive for the hijacking – or the downing of MH17.

He writes: "We can’t presume to guess what his cost/benefit analysis of this decision was.

"But based on a year’s worth of intensive reporting by Bellingcat, as well as on work released by the official Joint Investigative Team, Putin obviously felt he had reason enough."

Families of MH370 passengers still deny the plane crashed – as almost no wreckage has been found – and hold out hope their relatives survived.

A new Chinese sonar boat has offered new hope of finding the doomed flight.

But the search in the southern Indian Ocean south west of Australia is due to end in June this year.

(dailystar.co.uk)