Thread by @XSovietNews

The MH17 trial has resumed this morning. A judge is saying that the Buk 9M38M1 that was used has a range of about 40 km.

Photos presented by Russia at a press conference were digitally analysed by Dutch experts and Bellingcat and found to have been manipulated using Photoshop. Areas including vehicles that had a different pixel compression from the rest of the picture lit up, and dates were changed

Fragmentation pattern of a Buk missile.

Dutch analysis of damage to MH17 and Buk fragmentation patterns.

So the Dutch used the latest digital analysis tools and the Russians used Photoshop.

The Dutch Royal Military Academy predicted the location of the launch site based on the fragmentation pattern of the missile.

Buk manufacturer Almaz-Antey came up with a different location of the launch site.

More analysis of the wreckage.

The Dutch lawyers for defendant Oleg Pulatov listen as a judge explains how the RMA refuted claims by Almaz-Antey.

Evidence of when the Buk was manufactured contradicts claims by Russia.

Russia omitted the last six dates in the Buk manufacturing process from the evidence file.

Putin is shown with a Buk missile system of the type used to shoot down MH17.

Now to discuss the role of the accused.

A judge is explaining the background of the conflict: how Ukrainians called their uprising against the pro-Russian government the Euromaidan.

Intense fighting was taking place in July 2014 in the area where MH17 was shot down.

Separatists, as the court refers to them, were attempting to make a corridor to the Russian border.

Ukrainian dominance from the air was too substantial, despite the fact that the Russian side shot down several helicopters and planes.

MANPADS were used to shoot down Ukrainian aircraft that were flying low as they were taking off or landing.

The court will take a lunch break and return at 12:55 to introduce the defendants and other relevant people and some intercepted phone calls.

A judge starts talking about absent defendant Igor Girkin, a Russian citizen and "reserve colonel" who led "volunteers" in Donbass.

Girkin was introduced in 2014 as "minister of defence" and "commander of the people's army" of the "People's Republic of Donetsk".

He returned to Russia on August 15, 2014.

The next defendant is Sergei Dubinsky, who was in the Soviet and Russian army for 30 years and became a "reservist" in 2014, transforming himself into head of intelligence for the "Donetsk People's Republic."

His transfer to Donbass was a way to solve pension issues.

The third defendant is Oleg Pulatov. He used the name "Caliph" online. He was Dubinsky's deputy and says he was responsible for training troops and planning combat. He served in the Soviet and Russian armies, retiring in 2008 and joining the reserves.

And the fourth absent defendant is Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian citizen who reported to Pulatov at the time MH17 was shot down.

Pulatov has said he doesn't remember his phone conversations and isn't sure if it's really his voice on the intercepted recordings.

A judge is now talking about some of the "persons of interest" who have been identified by the JIT as having been involved in the MH17 events in some respects.

One, Eduard Gilyazov, wrote "it was us" after MH17 was shot down.

The judge quotes a "separatist" saying "We're moving to unified command. What happens next is a bunch of people under Shoigu come in and kick the local warlords the fuck out."

Girkin complained that centralised Russian command wasn't capable of exerting authority over grassroots fighters.

The court plays an intercepted phone call from June 2014 in which Girkin desperately requests military reinforcements from Russia, including air defence systems.

15 minutes later. "We're about to lose these commodity markets."

That's a conversation between Girkin and Sergei Aksenov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea.

The judge is now talking about how the leader of the "DPR" Alexander Borodai coordinated with Putin aide Vladislav Surkov, who was described as "our man in the Kremlin".

A witness who was a junior culture minister in the "DPR" said requests for weapons were sent by Borodai to Russia's GRU.

A witness who was the minister for work and welfare in the "DPR" says a rich Russian industrialist who was in the DPR government wanted to consolidate the forces because there were too many warlords.

Locations of fighting in the area where MH17 was shot down. "Separatists" weren't equipped to respond to aerial fire from Ukrainian forces, the judge says.

"Give us that weapon, no fucking aircraft will fly over here," a judge quotes a separatist conversation with the Russians.

"We have nothing to shoot with, where is the support for us?" is another quote.

From an intercepted conversation between two of the defendants the day before MH17 was shot down.

On the same day defendant Sergei Dubinsky says he needs a Buk.

Another conversation the same day between two defendants. "Our only hope is Buk."

The route that the Buk took on the night of July 16-17.

The last part of the route is known in more detail.

Defendant Sergei Dubinsky talks to the Buk driver on the day that MH17 was shot down.

Dubinsky asks Chernykh if he has one Buk or two.

A photograph of the Buk in Donetsk on its way to the launch site.

A report says visual analysis does not reveal any manipulation of the photograph.

The Swedish police's national forensic centre also analysed the photo and concluded there was no indication of any manipulation.

Here's where the photo was taken.

Defendant Sergei Dubinsky asks where to put the Buk.

The Buk on the route.

Objections to this video based on perspective have been dismissed by investigators.

Photos taken as the Buk was transported to the launch site.

Another video of the Buk being transported was analysed.

Russia challenges every photo and video of the Buk, claiming they are fake, although they themselves sent the Buk to Ukraine.

Another picture of the Buk before the launch.

The Russians hardly bothered to hide the Buk. They didn't think at the time that its presence would be a big deal.

In an intercepted conversation Kharchenko tells Pulatov, "I'm with the toy."

A conversation between defendants Pulatov and Kharchenko shortly before the Buk was launched.

The session is over and the court will return at 10 am tomorrow.