The investigation of the downing the Malaysian Boeing. Pavel Kanygin found the Russian general who is considered to be responsible for transporting the Buk missile that shot down the Boeing MH17
A veteran who served as a scout in the Afghan war, recognized his war buddy among those who figure on the list of the involved in the Malaysian Boeing crash. Exclusive certificate. Pavel Kanygin, a special correspondent of the Novaya Gazeta met the veteran in Zaporozhye and went to a closed military town near Rostov having a message for his friend.
FROM THE EDITORS
Novaya Gazeta is investigating the causes of the crash of the MH17 Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur palne, which happened in the sky over the Donbass on July 17, 2014. There were 298 people that is 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board of the civilian liner. All of them died.
Last autumn, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT*) presented the conclusions according to which the Malaysian Boeing was hit by a surface-to-air missile from the Buk missile system that fired from the Donbass town of Snezhnoye (at that time it was controlled by the Donetsk People Republic).
* An international investigative group called for ascertaining the reasons and perpetrators of the MH17 death. The group is represented by five countries which are Malaysia, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Ukraine. Russia refused to participate in the joint investigation of the group.
However, the Buks producer that is the Russian state concern Almaz-Antey investigating the tragedy from its side, insisted that the missile was fired from the village of Zaroshchenskoye suburbs. In the opinion of the Almaz-Antey representatives, on July 17, 2014, that village was controlled by Ukrainian security forces. Residents of the Zaroshchenskoye refused the information presented by the Almaz-Antey having told Pavel Kanygin, a special correspondent of Novaya Gazeta, that the Ukrainian military forces and the Buk missile system had never been seen in the village, and its surroundings were controlled by the DPR forces from the first days of the war.
We are presenting the new details of the investigation.
Place of crash of Boeing of Malaysian airlines. Picture: Zinaida Burskaya / Novaya Gazeta
In October 2015, investigators from JIT published intercepted telephone conversations between «Hmuriy», a head of the Donetsk People Republic military intelligence service (GRU) and a separatist whose call sign is «Buryat», their conversation took place on the day of the tragedy. «Buryat» and «Hmuriy» were discussing the details of the Buk transportation. In the materials presented by JIT, «Hmuriy» appears as responsible for moving the missile unit from the border with Russia over the territory controlled by the separatists. According to our data, besides these telephone conversations, the investigators do not have any other evidence of the involvement of Major General Dubinsky in the Malaysian Boeing crash. Officials from Moscow call the JIT evidence «fakes» from the Internet.
However, Novaya Gazeta managed to find a person who confirmed that it is «Hmuriy’s» voice heard on the recording. Sergei Tiunov, a leader of Zaporozhye self-defense and a veteran of the Afghan war, recognized the voice of his former war buddy, Russian Major General Sergey Dubinsky having the call sign «Hmuriy».
In an exclusive interview with Novaya Gazeta, Tiunov said that he and Sergey Dubinsky, the former head of the «GRU DPR», were friends and discussed the consequences of the MH17 tragedy.
Sergey Tiunov (on the background) and Sergey Dubinsky (on the foreground with a tommy gun. Photo from Sergey Tiunov’s archive
In the late 1980s, Tiunov and Dubinsky served in the intelligence troop of the 181st regiment in Afghanistan. In the first months of the war in the Donbass, thanks to his acquaintance with Dubinsky, Tiunov managed to release several dozens of Ukrainian soldiers from captivity in Donetsk. Tiunov claims that he fears for Dubinsky's life, who, he said, is a key witness in the case of the MH17crash able to shed light on the circumstances of the tragedy and name those who ordered to attack the passenger liner, and who is directly responsible for the death of people.
Telephone conversations of the head of the "GRU DPR" Sergey Nikolaevich Dubinsky and a separatist nicknamed «Buryat». 07/17/2014:
Buryat: "Where should we deliver this beauty, Nikolayevich?"Dubinsky: "Which one? This?"B: «[The one] that I brought. I'm already in Donetsk».D: "That's what I'm thinking about, right? That "M"? "B: «Yes, yes, yes, Buk, Buk».D : "Is it on this, on trac? "B : "Yes ... It must be unloaded somewhere to hide".D : "Is it with the crew?"B : «Yes, with the crew».D : "Do not hide it anywhere. She will go there now... I will tell you where she should go. She will go along with the tanks of the "East".
Telephone conversations of the head of the "GRU DPR" Sergey Nikolaevich Dubinsky and a separatist nicknamed «Buryat». 07/17/2014:
Comrade-in-arms
I talked to Tiunov on March 16 at the headquarters of self-defense in Zaporozhye, which was located in the premises of one of the city schools. The flags of Ukraine were hung in the big office, and there was a new generator. In a few days it would be taken to the Zaporozhye volunteers at the Mariupol Front. In the meantime, Tiunov instructed his subordinates about the details of the trip: «We'll leave early in the morning. Do not take weapons. Clear?»
Tiunov, a tightly built man with glasses of about 50 years of age, worked as a lawyer before the war.
The lawyer Tiunov organized and became a leader of local self-defense in the spring of 2014, when a wave of shares of «Russian Spring» supporters swept across the southeast of Ukraine.
There are several videos on YouTube. In one of them, on March 23, 2014, Tiunov, dressed in camouflage and his comrades, blocked the road to a column of cars with pro-Russian activists at the entrance to Zaporozhye, and then pulled the tricolors sticking out of their quarter lights. We defended our city. But the Moscow TV channels showed this video with a comment that we had brutally attacked the Russian people. Many of my Russian comrades wrote: «Fascist, punisher, lied out under a junta». I did not expect that, and it was a shame that propaganda poisoned my comrade so much, Tiunov told me. And Seryoga Dubinsky did not say anything that time. Last time when I was at his home, near Donetsk, was in April 2014, before the war. We argued a lot, of course, as he was opposed to Maidan, he did not like it. But we talked as usual, I told him my truth, and he told me his own. It was hard to imagine what would happen to us afterwards».
As Tiunov says, at that time Dubinsky was a retired Russian officer for 10 years already. But in May 2014, he unexpectedly went to fight for the "DPR". Tiunov recalls that then a group of Ukrainian volunteers "firmly occupied" the village of Velikaya Novoselka, where Dubinsky lived after conducting a raid in search of sympathizers for the "Russian Spring". «Seryoga was not so excited about the latest events, and here it is. The last drop, as they say».
Tiunov recalls that during his service in Afghanistan he did not communicate with Dubinsky. The former comrades-in-arms became friends only in late 2010, met on the newly created Internet forum for veterans. In 2011, the war buddies met. Dubinsky, who served in the intelligence troop as a deputy commander, invited Sergey Tiunov and Vladimir Vorotilov, the Ukrainian «Afghans», to come for his birthday on August 8, to his home that is in the village of Velikaya Novoselka in the Donetsk region. Dubinsky settled there in 2004 after he retired from the Russian army and returned from the service in Chechnya in the rank of colonel. (Since 2015 he's been showing up in the uniform of Major General) The comrades called on the phone. Tiunov, who lived in Zaporozhye, said that he and Vorotilov would come in one car and asked whether to grab any products. «Guys, just come, that is most important!» - answered Dubinsky. «Karakhan*, I warn you that I will not drink as I am at the wheel,» said Tiunov. "Redhead, do not be a bore," Dubinsky joked.
* "Karakhan", "Hmuriy", "Not good", "Petrovsky" are Sergey Dubinsky’s callsigns and nicknames.
The meeting was warm. Dubinsky introduced his young wife and mother-in-law to his war buddies and showed the house. They laid the table on the veranda, remembering old comrades in Afghanistan; the first thing they drank for were died comrades-in-arms. Dubinsky remembered up the story of Idris Saraliev, who also fought in Afghanistan in the same intelligence group, and was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the Medal «For Courage». But in the Chechen war, Saraliev was on the side of Maskhadov's troops, and in 2002, the special forces unit soldiers, headed by Dubinsky, killed him during a special operation.
— Seryoga was very upset about this fateful case, claiming that it happened by chance, - says Tiunov. — And if only he knew that, he would not have allowed it. He also said that we all have one country, and the enemies divided and quarreled all of us in 1991. He was worried about all of that.
... By September 2014, several hundred of Ukrainian soldiers who had been surrounded in a trap under Ilovaisk, were in the captivity of the «DPR». Only few people broke out of the trap. Tiunov, a leader of the Zaporozhye volunteers, was able to take out a group of his people in a jeep, but he was wounded. After leaving the hospital, with the help of his familiar «Afghans», searched the «DPR» commanders to agree on the release of one of the fighters. Soon Tiunov got an SMS containing a phone number and text: «A man from military intelligence from that side. Call him. You’ll wonder who will answer you».
Tiunov immediately dialed the number and blurted out: «I'm a lawyer from Zaporozhye, Tiunov Sergei, and I want to enter into negotiations on the release of my fellow countryman ...»
- Speak normally, Redhead, - laughed a hoarse voice at that end. - Talk in order how many people, from where, who will take them?
Tiunov recognized the voice, but could not believe it.
- Whom am I speaking wth?" - he asked.
- This is «Karakhan»! - answered the voice. - Dubinsky. «Hmuriy». Got it?
At Tiunov’s request, Dubinsky released the captured Ukrainian soldier, ordering to put him on a passenger bus from Donetsk to Kurukhovo, and on the border line he was met by his relatives.
A week after his countryman was successfully released, Tiunov called Dubinsky again and asked to release a group of captured soldiers from Zaporozhye. «No problem, take them! We only feed and guard them here, waste of money», - agreed «Hmuriy». The same day Tiunov contacted Ukrainian military men and the Security Service of Ukraine, and told them about his agreement with Donetsk, and asked to provide logistics. The officials answered that personal initiatives of social activists can be useful, but they will be considered in the general order... Tiunov rented a bus in Zaporozhye himself for releasing the captured. And on the October morning he went to Donetsk, where Dubinsky assigned a meeting.
«On the one hand, the trip seemed a sure death at the time, and all my nerves were at their limit. On the other hand, I knew who I was going to, and he could not let me down as gave his word. For Afghans, this word is concrete».
At the meeting place armed «DPR» fighters in masks were waiting for Tiunov. A few minutes later, several more people appeared, and among them there was a familiar figure of short stature with a motionless left arm - the effects of Dubinsky's old wound, which his close people knew about. «Hmuriy» was accompanied by security guards. Tiunov defined them as Chechen special forces, whom «Hmuriy» served with during the Chechen war. The captured were loaded onto a bus.
Tiunov and Dubinsky stepped aside to talk. «You see what life it is now, Seryozha», said Hmuriy. «In Afghanistan, we fought on the same side, but now we are fighting against each other. I do not understand why you are for the junta».
- In response, I could not restrain myself and said that it was them who knocked down the passenger plane in a gangster way! - recalls Tiunov. - I saw by his face that it touched him, and he took it very personally. «You don’t think that I did this [myself], do you?» said he. And then he pointed upward: «The bastards from Moscow did it!»
- He did not like such a conversation, because he had to justify himself. Still, he is a military man, not a bandit», continues Tiunov. - [It was obvious to me]: he understood that he was involved and partly guilty of the death of civilians. So he quickly turned off the conversation like enough, go away or they will find out and fire a mortar both you and me.
The Zaporozhye soldiers were then released without recourse. Officially in the DPR, the action was called a gesture of goodwill on the eve of the anniversary of the liberation of Zaporozhye from the Nazis...
Next time, the exchange took place in November 2014. Tiunov wanted to pull out the volunteers of the «Donbass» battalion from the captivity. But that time, the DPR did not want to release the captive volunteers under any conditions. Under the agreement, Tiunov undertook to bring «Hmuriy» 2 DPR fighters for five Donbass soldiers. During the exchange, there was another conversation between Tiunov and Dubinsky about the Malaysian Boeing.
- That time he told me distantly: «Seryozha, we are not involved in the plane crash. The Boeing was shot down by an Ukrainian pilot flying on the SU», - recalls Tiunov. - I immediately realized that by that time they had already developed a legend. Because [«Hmuriy»] no longer expressed any resentment or emotions... After that time, we have not seen each other anymore.
Tiunov showed me some old photos from their joint rest and then talked about the service in the «Afghan» intelligence troop.
«He was not a bitch or a rat in the war. I know it. In intelligence service, such people just do not stay long. But, of course, a civilian can say in another way if he looks at some things, which we did in Afghanistan. Yes, something was contentious, maybe. But that was necessary for survival.
- For example? - I asked.
- Well, you need some food, and you go into the house in the village and take it; you need warm clothes and you take it; you take cigarettes. In Afghanistan, everyone behaved so, and in this war too. I told my soldiers the same. But taking out television sets or equipment is looting. Killing unarmed and civilians is a crime. These are the boundaries that you do not cross.
- You said you did not consider him a bandit. Whom do you consider him in this case?
- He fought [in the Donbass] as a soldier. Yes, probably, by the [criminal] order of his leaders. But I am 100% sure that if he knew it was a [civil] aircraft, and it was his duty to launch the missile, he would never have kill the civilians. Moreover, I heard from him personally: «These Moscow … did it!» ... And I will never agree with the fact that now he is the biggest culprit.
I asked Tiunov a direct question if he recognized the voice of his comrade-in arms Dubinsky from the records of JIT and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and if he is he ready to repeat on camera what he told me an hour earlier in a personal conversation.
Tiunov paused. Then he said:
- Let’s say so - the person whoin the records [of telephone conversations presented] of the SBU, is signed as Hmuriy, is very similar [in a voice] to Dubinsky. I can admit that this was him.
During the conversation on the camera, Tiunov carefully selected the words. Later he once again told me that he did not consider Dubinsky guilty of a catastrophe: «He is a key witness, but not a murderer. And he's also my war buddy. I want him to stay alive. I believe that he did not click on the button of this Buk, but only coordinated the transfer".
Tiunov showed me some old photos from their joint rest and then talked about the service in the «Afghan» intelligence troop.
«He was not a bitch or a rat in the war. I know it. In intelligence service, such people just do not stay long. But, of course, a civilian can say in another way if he looks at some things, which we did in Afghanistan. Yes, something was contentious, maybe. But that was necessary for survival.
- For example? - I asked.
- Well, you need some food, and you go into the house in the village and take it; you need warm clothes and you take it; you take cigarettes. In Afghanistan, everyone behaved so, and in this war too. I told my soldiers the same. But taking out television sets or equipment is looting. Killing unarmed and civilians is a crime. These are the boundaries that you do not cross.
- You said you did not consider him a bandit. Whom do you consider him in this case?
- He fought [in the Donbass] as a soldier. Yes, probably, by the [criminal] order of his leaders. But I am 100% sure that if he knew it was a [civil] aircraft, and it was his duty to launch the missile, he would never have kill the civilians. Moreover, I heard from him personally: «These Moscow … did it!» ... And I will never agree with the fact that now he is the biggest culprit.
I asked Tiunov a direct question if he recognized the voice of his comrade-in arms Dubinsky from the records of JIT and the SBU and if he is he ready to repeat on camera what he told me an hour earlier in a personal conversation.
Tiunov paused. Then he said:
- Let’s say so - the person whoin the records [of telephone conversations presented] of the SBU, is signed as Hmuriy, is very similar [in a voice] to Dubinsky. I can admit that this was him.
During the conversation on the camera, Tiunov carefully selected the words. Later he once again told me that he did not consider Dubinsky guilty of a catastrophe: «He is a key witness, but not a murderer. And he's also my war buddy. I want him to stay alive. I believe that he did not click on the button of this Buk, but only coordinated the transfer".
Sergey Dubinsky was not surprised by the news from Tiunov, however, having listened to me, the major general said that he was not in Rostov that time and was going to come back only a week later. «Let's meet in a week,» he suggested and then added: «And was that you having problems with the Ministry of State Security in Donetsk? I recognized you»*.
* On June 16, 2015, making his business trip to the military operations zone, a special correspondent of Novaya Gazeta, Pavel Kanygin was indeed arrested by representatives of the Ministry of State Security of the DPR «for the preparation of materials unfavorable for the Republic of Donetsk». Released due to the Russian authorities involvement.
Dubinsky said he would call back himself two days later to agree on a place and exact time. But he did not call back and did not answer the calls.
On April 24, three weeks after our conversation, I managed to contact Dubinsky again. That time he said that my mediation in transferring the message was irrelevant, since he had communicated with Tiunov himself those days, and the last one promised to send him an e-mail. «Hmuriy’s» voice was extremely alarming. The question of whether his voice sounds on the SBU records or not, Dubinsky left without an answer.
Tiunov denied the fact of his recent communicating with Dubinsky.
Dossier: Sergey Dubinsky received the allowance from the Ministry of Defense of Russia in 2015
There is a lot of information about a man named Sergey Nikolaevich Dubinsky, who uses the call sign "Hmuriy", from open sources. Dubinsky also willingly reports a lot of curious things about himself, that is similar with Igor Strelkov-Girkin, another prominent figure of the Ukrainian war.
He has accounts in the «Vkontakte» and «Facebook» social networks where he chats actively with his former comrades-in-arms and discusses near-war themes and even conflicts with them. At the forum of veterans of the 181st motorized rifle regiment that participated in the Afghan war, the name of Sergey Dubinsky is listed among the servicemen of the intelligence troop. The forum was founded in 2010 by another veteran named Sergey Tulupov, and since that time Dubinsky wrote 365 posts under the nickname «Karakhan» (the user's registration details include his real name) at the forum.
At the forum, Dubinsky wrote that he was born on August 9, 1962; from 1985 to 1987, he served in Afghanistan, and from 2002 to 2004 he served in Chechnya in the rank of colonel of the Main (Intelligence) Directorate of the Russian Army; from 2014, Dubinsky participated in the war in the south-east of Ukraine where he was a creator and the first head of military intelligence of the «Donetsk People's Republic». In 2015, Dubinsky left his post and moved to Rostov.
As it became known to Novaya Gazeta, Sergei Dubinsky received payments from the Russian Defense Ministry at least until mid-2015 (more than 300 thousand rubles in 2015).
As Novaya Gazeta got to know, Sergey Dubinsky received payments from the Russian Defense Ministry at least until mid-2015 (more than 300 thousand rubles in 2015).
In a telephone conversation, Dubinsky informed me that he did not remember receiving any money from the RF Ministry of Defense. «Besides the [military] pension, I don’t remember that I received anything. No, no, well, there was more... Ah! There were old disability payments, probably in 2015. Well, not by disability, but by old injury. I received about 300 thousand [rubles] of payments by disability and injury, but now only the pension is given to me from the Ministry of Defense".
Dubinsky almost did not communicate with reporters. It is known only about two interviews with him.
At the end of 2014, Anastasia Mikhailovskaya, a journalist and colleague of Igor Strelkov-Girkin, recorded an interview with Dubinsky for the Zavtra newspaper. During the conversation with me, she confirmed that Dubinsky used the nickname «Petrovsky» and the call sign «Hmuriy», and Mikhailovskaya recognized him in pictures from the forum of fellow soldiers that I showed her. The MH17 topic was not touched on in the interview, but «Hmuriy» described in detail the DPR military intelligence service created by him («Our subversive and reconnaissance operations are conducted daily»), and the long-standing acquaintance with Strelkov-Girkin in Chechnya («We worked together in from 50 to 80 operations»). According to Mikhailovskaya, Dubinsky agreed to an interview with her after the journalist organized an actor Ivan Okhlobystin’s visit to Donetsk. Their joint pictures later appeared on Sergey Dubinsky’s account in Odnoklassniki.
In 2003, the colonel «Hmuriy» figured in the Chechen reportage made by Vadim Rechkalov, Izvestia's military correspondent. Hmuriy» named himself as a «sabotage specialist» Petrovsky. Rechkalov presented large quotations of the officer in the text. «[I'm fighting] for the Russian people. For its small part, which is still preserved,» said major general «Hmuriy». «And whom are you fighting with?» the military correspondent asked. «With those who do not want to live in Russia according to our Russian laws and do not want to pray to our faith».
- Do you find it hard to kill people? Rechkalov asked.
- Very hard. It is disgusting to realize that you are depriving a person of life.
- But have you overcome it?
- Hatred has helped me. I killed the first one in the battle during the first [Chechen] war, - answers «Hmutiy». - He aimed at me, but I shot first. When you kill in the battle from afar, this is not exactly murder. Murder is when you see the face of the one you are killing.
Rechkalov died in early 2017, even earlier, Rechkalov’s family cottage burned down in the suburbs of Moscow, where the journalist kept audio tapes and photographs. A colleague from the close circle of Rechkalov, who asked not to be named (he is in the editorial office), informed me that the records of that Chechen interview also did not survive. However, he told me that shortly before his death, Rechkalov shared with him that he recognized the hero of his publication «Petrovsky» in «Hmuriy», whose talks were published by the JIT group.
- Vadim was worried because of this,» his colleague remembered. - He initially reacted to the «Russian Spring» with sympathy, and even when the Boeing case happened, he thought that ours could not do that. Then these records of negotiations appeared, and he recognized the voice [of «Hmuriy»], whom he met then [in Chechnya]. For him, this fact was very painful.
In his book «Safety circuit. Generation of the DPR» published in March 2017, Andrey Pinchuk, an ex-head of the DPR Ministry for State Security, mentioned that Dubinsky was the Deputy Minister of Defense of the DPR and headed the military intelligence of the self-proclaimed republic (GRU DPR).
Mentioning «Hmuriy»-Dubinsky in Pinchuk's book caused a conflict among former colleagues. From his Facebook account, Sergey Dubinsky said that Pinchuk was spinning and distorting the facts. In response to the «Hmutiy’s» claim, Pinchuk wrote an article on the Politnavigator website, where he made it clear that Dubinsky's public indignation was out of place in his situation. «But if the demonstrated trend continues, it will be necessary to give expanded and detailed comments on the diversity of «Hmuriy’s» activities with relevant conclusions and consequences,» Pinchuk wrote.
For my request to tell more about the mentioned activity, the ex-head of the DPR Ministry for State Security answered that he was ready to talk on any topic, but he did not want to talk about Dubinsky.
I was told about the fact that Dubinsky had a page in Facebook, by Alexander Chalenko, a journalist of the Politnavigator, who personally met with him in Rostov in November 2016. Then there was a conference of the Donbass veterans in the city, convened by Alexander Boroday, the first head of the DPR. Chalenko took a short interview from «Hmuriy». Vera Girkina, Igor Strelkov’s former wife, who also came to the conference, saw «Hmuriy». «In fact, he behaved very modestly not communicating with anyone much,» Girkina told me.
Via his Facebook account, Dubinsky actively communicates with other prominent persons of the «Russian Spring», for example, with Igor Bezler, a former «People's Mayor» of Gorlovka, and Alexander Kofman, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPR, and Vadim Pogodin, a commander of the «Kerch» battalion. «The communication is quite open and frank, as people have so many memories,» says Chalenko. The Ukrainian negotiator Vladimir Ruban also takes part in charting with the separatists.
According to the stories of prominent figures of the «Russian spring», «Hmuriy» was expelled from the DPR for fraud and appropriating property from local residents. In his article, Andrei Pinchuk also hints at this. The editors cannot confirm the information, but we have managed to find out that on his return from Donetsk to Rostov in 2015, Sergey Dubinsky registered several cars, including the luxury SUV Volkswagen Touareg, in his name.
Expertise of the voice
Despite the fact that we received evidence from several different sources that the voice of «Hmuriy» on the SBU and JIT records belongs to the major general Sergey Dubinsky, the editors decided to conduct a phonoscopic study.
We turned to specialists from the Moscow Bureau of independent expertise «Version» with a request to study the recording of my telephone conversation with Dubinsky. And to compare it with the sample of the «Hmuriy’s» voice recorded during the interception in July 2014.
Having asked about the context in detail, the Bureau «Version» told me that the study could turn into «serious political consequences» for the company, and asked for time to think. We understood that the experts could refuse to conduct phonoscopy for understandable reasons. However, the bureau told us that it would take up work and moreover the research would not take a lot of time.
The next day, Yuri Makeev, a radio engineer from Moscow, prepared a technical analysis* containing conclusions that astonished us. The substantive part of the expert's conclusion ** was presented on one page; Yury Makeyev said that when studying the samples presented, «it was not possible to carry out reliable identification studies of the persons involved according to the voice and sounding speechbecause of low characteristics in terms of bit rate, total stream, bit depth and frequency».
* Technical analysis is studying acoustic parameters of the voice, such as timbre, frequency, etc. In contrast to the linguistic analysis, which strictly requires appropriate education and qualifications of the expert, it can be conducted by a person having technical education.
** «Conclusion of a specialist» is a legal term from the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, which denotes a judgment on the questions for a specialist. In contrast to the conclusion of an expert (appointed in the framework of the criminal process), it is not a fact-finding study or proof.
However, in the next paragraph, the radio engineer who did not have any linguistic education, gave a linguistic assessment of the talks between «Hmuriy» and «Buryat» published by the JIT (spelling and punctuation preserved: P.K.):
«Dynamics, motor skills, abertonation, composition and structure of the pauses of the hezitation, emotional richness of voices and sounding speech of the figurants testify pronouncing learned texts or reading the texts from carriers within the framework of telephone dialogues».
Then Makeev made a conclusion that on the tape, published by the Security Service of Ukraineon the day after the MH17crash, voice simulated Dubinsky's voice, sounded. «The study <...> indicates a significant difference in the frequency of the fundamental tone, and partial coincidence in terms of abertonation, style and speech, which, with the greatest probability and taking into account the structure of the material, indicates an attempt to imitate voice and sounding speech».
We learned even more unexpected facts from the radio-electronic engineer personally. During the meeting in his laboratory, he told a little about himself.
«I am from Rostov and an officer, by the way,» said Makeev. «And I went to the DPRto bring them humanitarian help, and I also worked with fighters with my call sign ... So I can tell you for sure that nobody in the DPR will not call each other even on the patronymic in the talks, as you have in the file! He is called Nikolaich there, so it's just impossible!»
Having received such a result, we thought that this research could be completed. However, we decided to reinsure ourselves and, just to order another study for any case...
Research No.2
On behalf of the editorial board of Novaya Gazeta, I asked the experts on the speech analysis from the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg to conduct a new study of two voices. The analysis was carried out in the laboratory Voxalys (carries out forensic examinations by order of the Swedish prosecutor's office, police and courts) using the «blind test» method without immersion in the context and in accordance to the instructions of the International Association of Criminalistic Phonetics and Acoustics (IAFPA). We did not say the experts about when, with whom and for what reason the recording we gave them as materials for research, was said. It was important for us that experts were not subject to any influence (of the current political moment).
Jonas Lindh, a criminalistics analyst and member of the IAFPA executive committee, supervised the study. Swedish experts analyzed only technical (acoustic) parameters such as tone, frequency and timbre of voices. To assess the similarity, the experts from the University of Gothenburg used a nine-point scale, approved by the Swedish National Forensic Science Center. +4 corresponds to the highest degree of coincidence of the researched voices (« the voices on the records belong to one person with extremely high degree of probability»), -4 corresponds to the smallest degree ("the voices on the records belong to different persons with extremely high degree of probability "), and a neutral indicator of 0 points indicates the impossibility for the experts to calculate the likelihood of similarity / difference.
Having spent 10 days on the study, the Swedes prepared a forensic report where they reported that the records represented a small but sufficient amount of material. So the results of their research testified to the hypothesis that the compared voices samples belonged to the same person - +2 points.
<strong>DOCUMENT. CONCLUSION OF EXPERTISE</strong>
+2. The result of the examination support that the compared speech material originated from the same person.
This strictly technical analysis and other evidence collected by us, confirm that the voice of «Hmuriy» (Nikolaich), the organizer of the Buk complex transportation on the Donbass territory, belongs to Sergey Dubinsky, a Russian officer.
His comrade-in-arms Tiunov insists that Dubinsky had no intention of attacking the plane with civilians on board but there was a mistake, an excess.
Novaya Gazeta is collecting more evidence.
With the participation of Roman Anin, Olga Bobrova and Nikita Girin
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