'Russian GRU Officer Oleg Ivannikov Identified as MH17 Suspect' - new @bellingcat investigation determines with very high certainty that ‘Andrey Ivanovich’ or ‘Orion’ who Dutch-led probe has said it person of interest in MH17 downing, is Russian Oleg Ivannikov. 
.@bellingcat: "Oleg Ivannikov was an officer of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Ministry of Defence (GRU), and served in that function until at least as late as September 2017."
Ivannikov was deployed to Ukraine sometime in first half of 2014, remained there at least until early 2015. During his undercover deployment, he coordinated & supervised military activities of Russian militants, pro-Russian separatists & private army contingents from Wagner group
Ivannikov also supervised the procurement and transport of weapons across the Russia-Ukraine border. He held these functions at the time of the downing of MH17, @bellingcat says.
Along with his role in Ukraine, Oleg Ivannikov worked under the alias "Andrey Ivanovich Laptev" as the Minister of Defense and Emergencies (2006-2008) in the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia.
.@bellingcat says its findings today establish for the first time the direct or indirect involvement of a high-ranking Russian military officer on active duty operating on the territory of Ukraine in the destruction of the airliner.
