The disappearance of MH370 and shooting of MH17 were masterminded by Vladimir Putin, aviation expert claims

The disappearance of flight MH370 and the shooting of MH17 just months later may both have been masterminded by Vladimir Putin, according to an astonishing claim by an aviation expert. US science and technology expert Jeff Wise said a new report into the MH17 disaster in July 2014 could provide clues linking Russia to the earlier disappearance of a second Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200.

Wise, who spearheaded CNN's coverage of missing MH370, made the outlandish claim after the release of a report by the UK-based investigative-group, Bellingcat.

The investigative organisation used social media and other online resources to examine MH17, which crashed down in the Ukraine during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It points to a Russian brigade it believes 'provided, and possibly operated' a Buk-M1 missile launcher that brought the aircraft down, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board

Wise (pictured), who spearheaded CNN's coverage of missing MH370, made the outlandish claim after the release of a report by the UK-based investigative-group, Bellingcat

The report summary suggests the military unit would only have taken the action with approval from the highest ranks of the Russian military.

It concludes: 'Ultimately, responsibility for the downing of MH17 from a weapon provided and possibly operated by the Russian military lies with the Ministry of Defense and the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin.'

Wise wrote that 'we don't know Putin's motive' but that based on Bellingcat's year-long report 'Putin obviously felt he had reason enough'. Bellingcat shot to fame four years ago when it produced evidence it claimed showed the Syrian government was using chemical weapons on its own citizens.

Last year Wise suggested MH370, which went missing while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was in fact hijacked on the orders of Vladimir Putin and secretly landed in Kazakhstan. He based his wild theory on pings that the plane gave off for seven hours after it went missing, that were recorded by British telecommunications company Inmarsat.

Wise said hijackers 'spoofed' the plane's navigation data to make it seem like it went in another direction, but flew it to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is leased from Kazakhstan by Russia. The new Bellingcat MH17 findings, he appears to suggest, adds weight to the astonishing theory that Russian president Vladimir Putin may have been behind both disasters.

He wrote on his blog: 'By this point I think the relevance of this story to MH370 should be clear.

-DailyMail

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