Probe says Russian unit downed MH17

UTRECHT, Netherlands - Investigators probing the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 said on Thursday for the first time that the missile which brought down the plane over eastern Ukraine came from a Russian military brigade.

The Joint Investigation Team "has come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia", top Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen said.

"The 53rd Brigade forms part of the Russian armed forces," he said at a news conference in the Netherlands.