Military pensioner Sergei Nikolaevich Dubinsky is 54 years old. He lives with his family in the Rostov region, in a good-quality brick house on the Bolshoy Log farm. He rides an expensive Canadian ATV, owns a plot of land of several tens of acres and probably loves to remember the Afghanistan and Chechnya he traveled through. There was only one day in this man's life that he was unlikely to talk about with anyone. strangers: July 17, 2014, the day of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crash near Donetsk. Bellingcat investigation is dedicated to Sergei Dubinsky.

On July 18, a day after the tragedy that claimed the lives of 298 people, the Security Service of Ukraine published a recording of a telephone conversation that, according to the Ukrainian intelligence service, took place around 9 a.m. on July 17. On the recording, among other things, the voices of two people are heard; their call signs are named in the credits - “Khmury” and “Buryat”. “Buryat” asks where he should “load the beauty” that he “just brought to Donetsk.” "Gloomy" replies: "Is that what I'm thinking about?" “Yes, Buk, Buk,” “Buryat” confirms his guess. A few minutes later, “Khmury” is discussing with another interlocutor, “Sanych,” where the rocket launcher needs to be delivered. Having received instructions, he makes another call to one of his subordinates: “Look at the map, Pervomaiskoye. You are located somewhere in that area. Your task is to guard this little thing that you are about to transport.”

The caption on the video says that “Khmury” is actually “Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovsky, Russian GRU officer, Igor Strelkov-Girkin’s representative on intelligence matters.”

Two years later, this telephone conversation will become one of the main pieces of evidence in the materials of the International Investigation Team headed by the Dutch Prosecutor's Office to determine the causes of the Boeing crash. The main version of the international group was: the plane was shot down from territory then controlled by the separatists, using a Buk-M1 missile launcher brought from Russia. The same version is adhered to by the authors of numerous independent investigations, and only official Moscow, having presented a dozen mutually exclusive versions to the public, still categorically denies its involvement in the tragedy.

Video from the International Investigation Team, which uses fragments of separatist negotiations intercepted by the SBU on the day of the Boeing crash:

Thanks to open sources, primarily photographs and videos on social networks, we now know almost everything about the Buk road from Russia to Ukraine. and a circle of people, one of whom could have pressed the rocket launch button that day. Now, as they say in their new investigation independent group experts bellingcat, it was possible to finally establish the identity of another person involved in the Boeing disaster, that same “Khmury”. He turned out to be a retired Russian military man, a professional intelligence officer. Sergei Nikolaevich Dubinsky, for a long time hiding behind various call signs and nicknames, as well as the fictitious surname “Petrovsky”. It is worth noting that this conclusion is based on one important assumption: the SBU of Ukraine was not mistaken in identifying the voice on the tapes as “Khmury”.

For the first time after the Boeing disaster, Khmury appeared in public space in the fall of the same year. On September 18, the pro-Kremlin website Politrussia.ru published a long interview with “Colonel, Deputy Minister of Defense, Head of the Intelligence Department of the DPR Army Sergei Petrovsky.” On the advertising banner, specially made for the article, the same call sign was written in large letters - “Khmury”. The article used a fragment of a video with “Khmury”, in which he appears as a man with gray hair short hair and a beard, promises to “get to Kyiv.”

“I don’t have any reconnaissance group. Some comrades confused me with a person from Slavyansk, who recently gave an interview and has a similar call sign. I’m a non-media person. The only exception is I read the text on YouTube in the video “SPECIAL FORCES STRELKOV part 1” (on this video Dubinsky is wearing a mask, but his voice is similar to the one heard on the tapes published by the SBU).

In July 2016, volunteers from another investigative team, InformNapalm, found the former neighbors of Sergei Dubinsky in the Donetsk region, in the village of Velikaya Novoselka, where he lived since 2005. On the site InformNapalm Dubinsky’s biography is described from the words of his fellow villagers as follows: in the 80s–90s he served in the Armed Forces of the USSR, and after that in Russian army. In 1997, he retired to the reserve and lived in the Rostov region. In 2002, he was called up from the reserve personnel department of the North Caucasus Military District (today the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation) and sent to serve as part of the United Group of Forces in the North Caucasus. In 2004, he quit his job again and soon moved to his mother in the Donetsk region (the service apartment remained with his wife). Later it turned out that during the second transfer to the reserve, Dubinsky’s documents were lost when sent to the military registration and enlistment office, and formally he remained in the service. At the same time, Dubinsky continued to receive a military pension. At some point, this was discovered during the next inspection of the military unit to which he was assigned, and in 2015 the court decided to recover from Sergei Dubinsky all the money paid to him.

From the same account in Odnoklassniki, as well as from publications on the websites of pro-Russian separatists in Donbass, it became clear that further fate Sergei Dubinsky. Apparently, he left the Donetsk region in early 2015 and now lives in the Rostov region of Russia. He was expelled from the “DPR” with a scandal and an entry ban: according to the Politnavigator website, the reason could be rumors that Dubinsky was “squeezing property from the Donetsk people,” or “the inability to integrate into the rigid state vertical of power of the DPR.” Despite this, it seems that he managed to solve the problems with the illegally accrued military pension: in the photographs, Dubinsky poses behind the wheel of a brand new imported ATV worth about $15,000, and his farm, in comparison with the rest of the houses on the farm, looks, if not luxurious, then at least prosperous . Investigators from bellingcat and groups InformNapalm managed to determine the location of this house on one of the streets of the Bolshoy Log farm.

There is another, almost direct evidence that Sergei Nikolaevich Dubinsky is related to the transportation of the Buk to Pervomaisky, to the place from where the shot was allegedly fired at the Boeing. On becoming famous video transporting the Buk through Makeevka, among others, a Peugeot 3008 car is visible.

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The transportation of the Buk, which, according to investigators, shot down flight MH17 in the Donbass, was controlled by a retired Russian officer Sergei Dubinsky, who appeared in the media as the DPR intelligence commander under the pseudonym Khmury

Militiamen at the crash site passenger plane Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777. 2014 (Photo: Zurab Javakhadze / TASS)

On February 15, the international expert-journalistic group Bellingcat, which searches for data from open sources, presented the report “Who is Khmury: a retired major general associated with the fall of MH17.” The authors of the investigation identified Khmury, a member of the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), who was responsible for transporting the launcher of the Buk missile system. According to a Bellingcat investigation, he turned out to be retired Russian officer Sergei Dubinsky.

In April 2015, JIT published telephone conversations separatists discussing the details of the plane crash and the transportation of the Buk missile launcher. The voices of two DPR supporters are heard on the recording: Khmury (the SBU previously identified him as DPR Deputy Defense Minister Petrovsky) and Buryat. The separatists discussed the transfer of the Buk launcher to Khmury and methods of transporting the weapon.

Investigators have determined real name Petrovsky using the email archive of Igor Strelkov, published by hackers of the Shaltai-Boltai group. They also managed to discover profile Dubinsky in social network"Classmates". In the fall of 2014, Dubinsky published photographs on his page with actor Mikhail Porechenkov, who visited Donetsk in October, and actor Ivan Okhlobystin. Later, Okhlobystin published on his profile a photo of the watch that Khmury gave him. The photo also shows the ID of Major General Sergei Petrovsky, signed by DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko.

According to the ruling of the Aksai District Court of the Rostov Region, in April 2015, Dubinsky was awarded a military pension for long service. The resolution states that the officer served in military units No. 61019, No. 11659 (22nd separate GRU special forces brigade) and No. 51019 (separate radio unit for special purposes). The last military unit is located in the city of Stepnoy, Rostov region.

Bellingcat forwarded the findings to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which is conducting a criminal investigation into the downing of Boeing MH17, which was shot down in the Donbass in July 2014. This group includes representatives of investigative authorities from Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Ukraine.

Bellingcat experts also sent JIT data on the activities of the 69th separate logistics brigade of the Russian Armed Forces (military unit No. 11385). As investigators indicate, the unit's military personnel participated in the transportation of a Buk launcher to the Russian-Ukrainian border in June and July 2014. Bellingcat examined military pages on social networks and found a large number of photographs taken in the Rostov region during the transportation of the installation. The photographs show military equipment recorded by eyewitnesses.

RBC sent an official request to the Russian Ministry of Defense about the results of the Bellingcat investigation. Previously, the Defense Department had researched groups related to the crash of the airliner. According to the Russian military, the group’s reports are based on “pseudo-hypotheses” and falsification of data about the crash of MH17.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in the skies over Donbass on July 17, 2014. There were 298 people on board flight MH17, most of whom were Dutch citizens. They all died.

In September 2016, JIT released the first results of its investigation into the disaster. During the presentation, the head of the central department of criminal investigations of the National Police of the Netherlands, Wilbert Paulissen, and the Prosecutor General of the Netherlands, Fred Westerbeek, stated that the Buk from which MH17 was shot down was delivered to the territory of the DPR from Russia.

The Russian side has repeatedly denied the JIT's conclusions. In September 2016, the Russian Ministry of Defense provided data from the Utes-T radar complex located in the Rostov region. According to the report of the head of the radio technical troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Major General Andrei Koban, Utes-T did not detect the launch of a surface-to-air missile in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed republics.

The official Russian version is that MH17 was shot down by a Buk launcher, but from territory under the control of the Ukrainian military. As proof of this version, in 2014, the chief operational management General Staff Andrei Kartapolov presented satellite images. On them, the military recorded the movements of the Buk launcher of the Ukrainian army. Also this version confirm the calculations of the manufacturer of the Buk complexes, the Almaz-Antey concern. As the concern's specialists point out, the missile was launched in the area of the village of Zaroshchenskoye, which, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, was at that moment under the control of the Ukrainian army.

Bellingcat is an international expert journalist group founded on July 15, 2014 by British journalist Eliot Higgins. The team's mission is to unite citizen journalists in investigating current events. Currently, Bellingcat's main project is investigating the circumstances of the Malaysian Boeing crash. The team is also monitoring the military campaign in Syria, including the actions of Russian military personnel. In its reports, Bellingcat relies on open sources: video and photographic materials posted on social networks, satellite images. Bellingcat is supported by private donations raised through the Kickstarter crowdfunding service. The team employs more than two dozen people and a large number of volunteers who help the project free of charge.

The reliability of Bellingcat's information has sometimes been questioned foreign media. In June German magazine Spiegel interviewed forensic photography analysis expert Jens Kreise. The reason was a Bellingcat study, in which, according to the group, it was proven that the Russian Ministry of Defense had manipulated photographs of the downed flight MH17. Kreise said that the method used by Bellingcat, from an expert point of view, does not stand up to criticism. “It is based on the so-called ELA analysis. This method unscientific and subjective. Accordingly, there is not a single scientific article devoted to this method,” he said (quoted from InoSMI.ru). Spiegel Online editor-in-chief Florian Harms issued an official apology to readers in June after the editorial office, based on information from Bellingcat, gave affirmative headlines that Russia manipulated the images. According to Kharms, news with reference to Bellingcat research should have been given in subjunctive mood, since the researchers' statements have not been properly verified by the editors.

Now that the identity of Dubinsky-“Khmury” has been unambiguously established through his posts and confirmation from his friend Ivan Okhlobystin, additional analysis of Dubinsky’s role in the transportation of Buk 332 on July 17, 2014 through eastern Ukraine can be carried out. In this analysis we will show that Dubinsky was key organizer of the transportation of Buk 332 from Donetsk to a field south of Snezhne on the day of the tragedy. In addition, this analysis confirms the authenticity of intercepted telephone conversations involving Dubinsky, published by the SBU on July 18, 2014. Some details of these wiretaps were previously incomprehensible or questioned - for example, the mention of downed planes and Gvozdikas in a conversation between Dubinsky and the Boatswain. However, a more thorough analysis allows us to confirm through open sources even the most small parts these calls.

The following sections provide short description And detailed analysis five calls involving Sergei "Khmury" Dubinsky, published by the SBU and the International Investigation Team, as well as additional comments on some of the details contained in slightly more full version one of the calls released by the investigation.

Dubinsky in wiretaps of telephone calls published by the SBU

Interceptions of telephone conversations released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) contain important details Dubinsky's role in the transportation of Buk 332 on July 17, 2014. On the day after the downing, the SBU identified Khmury as “Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovsky, born in 1964, GRU officer of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Igor Girkin’s (“Strelok”) deputy for intelligence, was in Donetsk at the time of the interception.” We now know that some details of this identification are incorrect or inaccurate - for example, the year of birth (1962, not 1964) and last name (Dubinsky, not “Petrovsky” - his pseudonym in the “DPR”). In addition, in the description of one of the interceptions, the SBU mistakenly duplicated information from a previous conversation (see “content of the fifth call”). In addition, the SBU published the intercepted telephone number: +38 063 121 3401. The published interceptions are available on the SBU channel with comments on Ukrainian And English languages. Dubinsky's voice is present on the video marks 1:33 - 3:52 , 4:15 - 5:22 .

Contents of the first call (9:08):

During the first call, Dubinsky talks with “Buryatik,” a separatist whose identity has never been established. “Buryatik” asks Dubinsky (“Khmury”) where to load the Buk-M1 installation (“Buryatik” calls it “beauty”, “Buk”, “B” and “M”), which he brought from an unspecified place to Donetsk . Having asked where to unload and hide the Buk, which arrived on a trawl, Buryatik confirms to Dubinsky that the Buk arrived with a crew. Dubinsky answers “Buryatik” that the installation does not need to be unloaded and hidden, because it should go “there” now.

Analysis

The time of this call (9:08 a.m.) is given as English version of the SBU video, and in the MSG video from March 30, 2015.
It is unknown whether the “crew” of the installation came from Russia or was a group of separatist fighters or a combined Russian-separatist crew.
The destination mentioned by Dubinsky is apparently a field south of Snezhnoye or another place from which air defense is supposed to cover this area. The use of air defense in this area would be quite logical, since Ukrainian aviation constantly carried out strikes in the Snezhnoye area. The most famous airstrike was on July 15, which killed 12 civilians. In addition, a Su-25 aircraft is visible on a satellite image from July 16, 2014 (coordinates 47.857925, 38.79837).
On video published March 30, 2015 The international investigative team is present for a few more seconds of this call (for more details, see the end of this article).

Contents of the second call (9:22):

In the second phone call, which starts at 2:12 in the video embedded above, Dubinsky speaks with Buryatik again. He asks if Buryatik brought one or two Buk missile launchers. “Buryatik” explains that during the transfer of the installations “there was some confusion”, since there was no second vehicle to transport the Buk. “They” unloaded the “Buk” from the trawl on which it was brought, after which the “Buk” crossed the “strip” (i.e., the border) under its own power, and then was loaded onto another trawl and taken to Donetsk. Dubinsky then tells Buryatik that the Buk will go to its destination with the tanks of the Vostok battalion.

Analysis

Bell time (9:22 am) is given in English version of the SBU video.
Dubinsky expected that they would give him another car - it is not entirely clear which one. It is safe to conclude that Dubinsky helped coordinate the transfer and use of the Buk, since he had an idea of what exactly would be delivered, and Buryatik knew that for instructions on where to transport or hide the Buk, it was necessary to turn to Dubinsky.
It is not entirely clear what situation “Buryatik” describes with the words “they have some confusion there.” It is possible that he expected another transport vehicle to pick up another Buk, or that “they” themselves would carry out part of the transport.
It is not entirely clear who exactly is meant by “them” who brought the Buk to the border from the Russian side. “Buryatik” does not provide details, but we know that “they” were in contact with the separatists, “they” may have included crew members (see analysis of previous negotiations) and “they” transported the Buk to the border.
It is unknown where exactly the Buk crossed the strip, or where the trailer was parked on the Ukrainian side of the border. The most likely point seems to be the point of illegal border crossing between the settlement. Severny (Ukraine) and Donetsk (Russia) at coordinates 48.352967, 39.942758. For more details, see the Bellingcat report “Buk. Assemblage Point" and pp. 11-13 of the Bellingcat report "Russia on the Warpath".
In an interview with the now defunct separatist media icorpus, published on the blog of Anatoly “El-Murid” Nesmiyan, Dubinsky mentions that shortly before the death of MH17 he received permission to take 3-4 tanks from the Vostok battalion: “ ... when I was going to Stepanovka, before the Boeing crash, Khodakovsky called me, for some reason not to Igor Ivanovich [Girkin-Strelkov], but to me, and said: “If you need, you can take 3-4 tanks from me "And I took it because I needed it» .
The movement of the Buk and Vostok tanks did not proceed exactly as Dubinsky had expected. Arnold Greidanus and blogger Ukraine@War (see also) carefully analyzed the movement of the Vostok convoy along the same route as the Buk, but at a different time. Below are two videos of the Vostok column:

Contents of the third call (9:23):

During the third call (from 2:43 in the video above), Dubinsky talks with another interlocutor - “Sanych”. The SBU introduced him as a DPR fighter, Khmury’s deputy. In the conversation, Dubinsky informs Sanych that “My Buk-M will go with yours,” which is on the trawl. He asks “Sanych”, “...where to fit it to put it in the column?” Sanych says that the column is being formed “beyond the Motel ring.”

Analysis

Bell time (9:23 am) is given in English version of the SBU video.
Buk 332 was parked for some time at the Motelevsky ring (as seen in this video from a passing car), and then headed east through Makeevka ( video), Zugres ( video), Torez (photo) and Snezhnoye ( video).
Interestingly, Dubinsky refers to the Buk missile launcher as “mine,” again indicating that he was a key organizer in obtaining and transporting the missile launcher from Russia.
A key fragment of the intercepted negotiations: it shows that various separatists had different instructions. Here Dubinsky does not know where the Buk 332 should be transported in order to be “placed in a convoy,” but he knows its destination and that it must go with the Vostok tanks.

Contents of the fourth call (9:54):

Dubinsky speaks with another unidentified person, presented exclusively as a “DPR terrorist.” Dubinsky tells the interlocutor to call the person with the call sign “Librarian” and indicates that the interlocutor will find “you know what” behind the Motel ring. An unidentified person confirms that he knows what is meant by “you know what.” Then Dubinsky orders him to take “... there only from those who returned, as many as you need for escort. You leave the rest here." Next, Dubinsky says to go to the area of the settlement of Pervomaiskoye, which he suggests finding on the map. After arriving in the Pervomaisky area, the unidentified fighter must take a position and bring there “the people you have left.” His task is to reserve and protect the Buk installation. Dubinsky ends the conversation by mentioning that a person with the call sign “Gyurza” will also arrive at the position.

Analysis

Bell time (9:54 am) is given in English version of the SBU video.
No one has been able to unambiguously establish the identity of the “Librarian”. Many have researched this question, but no one has ever given a definitive answer. Some suggested that he was a Russian military man, perhaps an intelligence officer, but no one indicated a specific person. Others pointed to Fyodor Berezin, a former Soviet air defense officer whom the New Yorker called “the Russian Tom Clancy” for his science fiction and war books. In 2014, Berezin was Deputy Minister of Defense of the DPR. However, it is unknown whether Berezin was in Donetsk at that time. Judging by the posts on his LiveJournal, he could be in Lugansk. At the same time, it cannot be unequivocally stated that “The Librarian” is associated with books or is educated person. For example, “librarian” is the name of a monster from the popular book and game universe “Metro 2033”, from where the “Sparta” battalion of Arseny “Motorola” Pavlov took its emblem. Establishing the Librarian's identity will resolve many critical issues related to the downing of MH17.
It is not known who exactly Dubinsky means by “those who returned,” but it is possible that we're talking about about Girkin’s fighters emerging from Slavyansk after a months-long siege less than two weeks before the downing of MH17. These people apparently had more combat experience than those in Donetsk and surrounding cities.
The people Dubinsky is talking about are probably exactly those who accompanied the Buk 332 from Donetsk to Snezhny. However, by the time they arrived in Snezhnoye, not all of their vehicles remained in the convoy. For example, in a video filmed in Makeevka around 11 am, the installation is accompanied by a black Peugeot 3008, a UAZ-469 jeep, a gray 2010 Toyota RAV4 with a modified spoiler and a dark blue Volkswagen minibus. On video from Snezhny, filmed several hours before the downing, the Buk is accompanied by only one vehicle.
Near the area from which Buk 332 launched the missile that shot down MH17, there are two settlements with names similar to Pervomayskoye. Closer to the launch site is the village of Pervomaisky, and just one field north of it is the village of Pervomaisky. It is not known which of them Dubinsky is talking about, however, between the village of Pervomaisky and the launch site there was a separatist checkpoint, which suggests that he had this particular settlement in mind.
It is difficult to reliably establish the identity of “Gyurza”, since this is a fairly common call sign. He was probably Dubinsky’s deputy in the “DPR intelligence.” In 2015, Novaya Gazeta wrote that Gyurza previously served in the French Foreign Legion, but this statement could not be independently confirmed.

The fifth and final conversation took place late in the day on July 17, 2014, between Dubinsky and “Botswain,” whom the SBU calls a Russian GRU officer. Dubinsky tells Bosun that he is “on Marinovka” and that he “is not doing very well.” He explains that they are constantly exposed to Grad fire, and also recently shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft. He mentions that his forces received a Buk-M this morning, which made things "feel better." Dubinsky adds that Ukrainian fighters are trying to retreat from Zelenopolye, but to do this they need to break through Dubinsky’s fighters. He also mentions that “yesterday” (July 16) they shot down two Su-25s, and today they shot down another one. At the end of the conversation, Dubinsky says that “in two hours” he is going to Donetsk, where three “Gvozdikas” are waiting for him. He is going to transport them “here,” that is, to the Marinovka area.

Analysis

The time of conversation is stated as 9:08 am, and Dubinsky, according to the description, is in Donetsk. Obviously, neither one nor the other is true. The SBU almost certainly copied the explanation for the first call, only replacing “Buryatik” with “Boatswain.” Dubinsky clearly indicates in this call that he is in Marinovka. The conversation takes place after the Buk shot down the plane. The exact timing of the call is unclear, but it likely occurred late in the afternoon or early evening shortly after the downing of MH17, before it was widely known that a passenger airliner had been shot down.

The identity of the “Boatswain” has never been established. At the same time, in a post on Glav.su dated September 13, 2015, Dubinsky mentions several people with this call sign. He mentions a “Boatswain” who was Bezler’s deputy, another who was the deputy commander of the 3rd brigade from Gorlovka, and a third who served in the DPR “Viking” battalion. Of these three, the first is the most likely participant in the intercepted conversation.
Shortly before the downing of MH17, there was indeed heavy fighting in the Marinovka area. On July 16, the day before the downing, a video appeared showing Igor “Strelkov” Girkin and Alexander Borodai in a field northwest of Stepanovka talking about the fighting in the Marinovka area. The video shows the Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system. Separatist forces entered Marinovka on the afternoon of July 17. It was reported that they captured part of the village on July 16.

It is possible to partially establish which downed (or damaged) aircraft Dubinsky is talking about. He mentions that on the day before the call they shot down two Sushki (Su-25). On July 16, at about 13:00, two Su-25s were actually hit, but only one of them was actually shot down. indicate that these Su-25s carried out strikes in the Saur-Mogila area, that is, just a few kilometers from the launch site of the fatal Buk missile, the village of Marinovka and the place where Strelkov gave an interview in front of an anti-aircraft missile system. Dubinsky was wrong when he said that on the day of the call another Sushka was shot down. The only plane shot down that day was Malaysia Airlines Boeing MH17.
We were able to establish which three Gvozdikas Dubinsky is talking about: these are three 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled guns without identification marks or numbers, traveling from Lugansk to Donetsk on July 15, 2014. The convoy that included these three Carnations was repeatedly captured on photo and video (see related Bellingcat investigation). These three Gvozdikas were seen on July 15 at about 19:00 in the center of Donetsk. The convoy with the Carnations was accompanied by the same vehicles (UAZ-469, Toyota RAV4 2010 and a dark blue Volkswagen minibus) that accompanied the Buk 332 on July 17. In the evening of the same day (judging by the mention of the downing of Sushka, after the death of MH17), Dubinsky probably left Marinovka for Donetsk. That same night, three “Gvozdikas” set off from Donetsk to Marinovka. Judging by witness reports, three Gvozdikas left Donetsk east on the night of July 17-18.

Once again I apologize, it’s hard for me to control myself now...
Icecoin Getman (@YevhenS)

We're not done with "Gloomy" yet. Analysis of telephone calls proving that Dubinsky was a key organizer of the transportation of Buk 332. #Bellingcat

Editor's note . We are already talking about a war criminal - a DPR militant with the call sign "Khmury" (GRU officer of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Sergei Dubinsky) and his involvement in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines airliner in eastern Ukraine. The material we bring to your attention contains more detailed information about the participation of “Khmury” in organizing that plane crash.

Now that the identity of Dubinsky-“Khmury” has been unambiguously established through his posts and confirmation from his friend Ivan Okhlobystin, additional analysis of Dubinsky’s role in the transportation of Buk 332 on July 17, 2014 through eastern Ukraine can be carried out. In this analysis we will show that Dubinsky was key organizer of the transportation of Buk 332 from Donetsk to a field south of Snezhne on the day of the tragedy. In addition, this analysis confirms the authenticity of intercepted telephone conversations involving Dubinsky, published by the SBU on July 18, 2014. Some details of these wiretaps were previously incomprehensible or questioned - for example, the mention of downed planes and “Carnations” in the conversation between Dubinsky and “Boatswain”. However, a more thorough analysis allows us to confirm even the smallest details of these calls through open sources.

The following sections provide a brief description and detailed analysis of five calls involving Sergei “Khmury” Dubinsky, published by the SBU and the International Investigation Team, as well as additional comments on some of the details contained in a slightly more complete version of one of the calls published by the investigation.

Dubinsky in wiretaps of telephone calls published by the SBU

Telephone intercepts released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) contain important details of Dubinsky's role in the transport of Buk 332 on July 17, 2014. On the day after the downing of the airliner, the SBU identified “Khmury” as “Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovsky, born in 1964, GRU officer of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Igor Girkin’s (“Strelok”) deputy for intelligence, was in Donetsk at the time of the interception.” We now know that some details of this identification are incorrect or inaccurate - for example, the year of birth (1962, not 1964) and last name (Dubinsky, not “Petrovsky” - his pseudonym in the DPR). In addition, in the description of one of the interceptions, the SBU mistakenly duplicated information from a previous conversation (see “content of the fifth call”). In addition, the SBU published the intercepted telephone number: +38 063 121 3401. The published interceptions are available on the SBU channel with comments on Ukrainian And English languages. Dubinsky's voice is present on the video marks 1:33 — 3:52 , 4:15 — 5:22 .

During the first call, Dubinsky speaks with “Buryatik,” a separatist whose identity has never been established. “Buryatik” asks Dubinsky (“Khmury”) where to load the Buk-M1 installation (“Buryatik” calls it “beauty”, “Buk”, “B” and “M”), which he brought from an unspecified place to Donetsk . Having asked where to unload and hide the Buk, which arrived on a trawl, Buryatik confirms to Dubinsky that the Buk arrived with a crew. Dubinsky answers “Buryatik” that the installation does not need to be unloaded and hidden, because it should go “there” now.

Analysis

The time of this call (9:08 a.m.) is given as English version of the SBU video, and in the MSG video from March 30, 2015.
It is unknown whether the “crew” of the installation came from Russia or was a group of separatist militants or a combined Russian-separatist crew.
The destination mentioned by Dubinsky is apparently a field south of Snezhnoye or another place from which air defense is supposed to cover this area. The use of air defense in this area would be quite logical, since Ukrainian aviation constantly carried out strikes in the Snezhnoye area. The most famous airstrike was on July 15, which killed 12 civilians. In addition, a Su-25 aircraft is visible on a satellite image from July 16, 2014 (coordinates 47.857925, 38.79837).
On video published March 30, 2015 The international investigative team is present for a few more seconds of this call (for more details, see the end of this article).

In the second phone call, which starts at 2:12 in the video embedded above, Dubinsky speaks with Buryatik again. He asks if Buryatik brought one or two Buk missile launchers. “Buryatik” explains that during the transfer of the installations “there was some confusion”, since there was no second vehicle to transport the Buk. “They” unloaded the “Buk” from the trawl on which it was brought, after which the “Buk” crossed the “strip” (that is, the border) under its own power, and then was loaded onto another trawl and taken to Donetsk. Dubinsky then tells Buryatik that the Buk will go to its destination with the tanks of the Vostok battalion.

Analysis

Bell time (9:22 am) is given in English version of the SBU video.
Dubinsky expected that they would give him another car - it is not entirely clear which one. It is safe to conclude that Dubinsky helped coordinate the transfer and use of the Buk, since he had an idea of what exactly would be delivered, and Buryatik knew that for instructions on where to transport or hide the Buk, it was necessary to turn to Dubinsky.
It is not entirely clear what situation “Buryatik” describes with the words “they have some confusion there.” It is possible that he expected another transport vehicle to pick up another Buk, or that “they” themselves would carry out part of the transportation.
It is not entirely clear who exactly is meant by “them” who brought the Buk to the border from the Russian side. “Buryatik” does not provide details, but we know that “they” were in contact with the separatists, “they” may have included crew members (see analysis of previous negotiations) and “they” transported the Buk to the border.
It is unknown where exactly the Buk crossed the “strip”, or where the trailer was parked on the Ukrainian side of the border. The most likely point seems to be the point of illegal border crossing between the settlement. Severny (Ukraine) and Donetsk (Russia) - coordinates 48.352967, 39.942758. For more information, see the Bellingcat report “Buk”. Assemblage Point" and pp. 11-13 of the Bellingcat report "Russia on the Warpath".
In an interview with the now-defunct separatist media icorpus, published on the blog of Anatoly “El-Murid” Nesmiyan, Dubinsky mentions that shortly before the downing of Boeing 777 flight MH17, he received permission to take 3-4 tanks from the Vostok battalion: “ ... when I went to Stepanovka, before the crash Boeing , Khodakovsky called me, for some reason not Igor Ivanovich [Girkin-“Strelkov”], but me, and said: “If you need it, you can take 3-4 tanks from me.” And I took it because I needed it"» .
The movement of the Buk and Vostok tanks did not proceed exactly as Dubinsky had expected. Arnold Greidanus and blogger Ukraine@War (see also) carefully analyzed the movement of the Vostok convoy along the same route as the Buk, but at a different time. Here are two videos of the Vostok column.

During the third call (from 2:43 in the video above), Dubinsky talks with another interlocutor - “Sanych”. The SBU presented him as a DPR fighter, Khmury’s deputy. In the conversation, Dubinsky informs Sanych that “my Buk-M will go with yours,” which is on the trawl. He asks “Sanych”: “Where should I fit it to put it in the column?” Sanych says that the column is being formed “beyond the Motel ring.”

Analysis

Bell time (9:23 am) is given in English version of the SBU video.
Buk 332 was parked for some time at the Motelevsky ring (as seen in this video from a passing car), and then headed east through Makeevka ( video), Zugres ( video), Torez (photo) and Snezhnoye ( video).
Interestingly, Dubinsky refers to the Buk missile launcher as “mine,” again indicating that he was a key organizer in obtaining and transporting the missile launcher from Russia.
A key fragment of the intercepted conversations: they show that different separatists had different instructions. Here Dubinsky does not know where the Buk 332 should be transported in order to be “placed in a convoy,” but he knows its destination and that it must go with the Vostok tanks.

Dubinsky talks with another unidentified person, presented exclusively as a “DPR terrorist.” Dubinsky tells the interlocutor to call the person with the call sign “Librarian” and indicates that the interlocutor will find “you know what” behind the Motel ring. An unidentified person confirms that he knows what is meant by “you know what.” Then Dubinsky orders him to take “... there only from those who returned, as many as you need for escort. You leave the rest here." Next, Dubinsky says to go to the area of the settlement of Pervomaiskoye, which he suggests finding on the map. After arriving in the Pervomaisky area, the unidentified militant must take a position and bring there “the people you have left.” His task is to reserve and protect the Buk installation. Dubinsky ends the conversation by mentioning that a person with the call sign “Gyurza” will also arrive at the position.

Analysis

Bell time (9:54 am) is given in English version of the SBU video.
No one has been able to unambiguously establish the identity of the “Librarian”. Many have researched this question, but no one has ever given a definitive answer. Some suggested that he was a Russian military man, perhaps an intelligence officer, but no one indicated a specific person. Others pointed to Fyodor Berezin, a former Soviet air defense officer whom the New Yorker called "Russia's Tom Clancy" for his science fiction and war books. In 2014, Berezin was the deputy “Minister of Defense of the DPR.” However, it is unknown whether Berezin was in Donetsk at that time. Judging by the posts on his LiveJournal, he could be in Lugansk. At the same time, it cannot be unequivocally stated that the “Librarian” is associated with books or is an educated person. For example, “Librarian” is the name of a monster from the popular book and game universe “Metro 2033”, from where the “Sparta” battalion of Arseny “Motorola” Pavlov took its emblem. Establishing the identity of the “Librarian” will make it possible to resolve many of the most important questions related to the downing of the Boeing 777 flight MH17.
It is not known who exactly Dubinsky means by “those who returned,” but it is possible that we are talking about Girkin’s militants who left Slavyansk after a months-long siege less than two weeks before the downing of the airliner. These people apparently had more combat experience than those in Donetsk and surrounding cities.
The people Dubinsky is talking about are probably exactly those who accompanied the Buk 332 from Donetsk to Snezhny. However, by the time they arrived in Snezhnoye, not all of their vehicles remained in the convoy. For example, in a video filmed in Makeevka around 11:00, the installation is accompanied by a black Peugeot 3008, a UAZ-469 jeep, a gray 2010 Toyota RAV4 with a modified spoiler and a dark blue Volkswagen minibus. On video from Snezhny, filmed several hours before the downing, the Buk is accompanied by only one vehicle.
Near the area from where Buk 332 launched the missile that shot down the Boeing 777, there are two settlements with a name similar to “Pervomayskoe”. Closer to the launch site is the village of Pervomaisky, and just one field north of it is the village of Pervomaisky. It is not known which of them Dubinsky is talking about, however, between the village of Pervomaisky and the launch site there was a separatist checkpoint, which indicates that he had this particular settlement in mind.
It is difficult to reliably establish the identity of “Gyurza”, since this is a fairly common call sign. He was probably Dubinsky’s deputy in the “DPR intelligence.” In 2015, Novaya Gazeta wrote that “Gyurza” previously served in the French Foreign Legion, but this statement could not be independently confirmed.

The fifth and final conversation took place late in the day on July 17, 2014, between Dubinsky and “Botswain,” whom the SBU calls a Russian GRU officer. Dubinsky tells “Boatswain” that he is “on Marinovka” and that he “is not doing very well.” He explains that they are constantly exposed to fire from Grad missiles, and also recently shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft. And he mentions that his forces received a Buk-M in the morning, as a result of which “it became easier.” Dubinsky adds that Ukrainian fighters are trying to retreat from Zelenopolye, but to do this they need to break through Dubinsky’s militants. He also mentions that “yesterday” (July 16) they shot down two Su-25s, and today they shot down another one. At the end of the conversation, Dubinsky says that “in two hours” he is going to Donetsk, where three “Gvozdikas” are waiting for him. He is going to transport them “here,” that is, to the Marinovka area.

Analysis

The time of conversation is stated as 9:08 am, and Dubinsky, according to the description, is in Donetsk. Obviously, neither one nor the other is true. The SBU almost certainly copied the explanation for the first call, only replacing “Buryatik” with “Boatswain.” Dubinsky clearly indicates in this call that he is in Marinovka. The conversation takes place after the Buk shot down the plane. The exact time of the call is unclear, but the conversation likely took place late in the afternoon or early evening shortly after the downing of the Boeing 777, before it was widely known that a passenger jet had been shot down.

The identity of the “Boatswain” has never been established. At the same time, in a post on Glav.su dated September 13, 2015, Dubinsky mentions several people with this call sign. He mentions a “Boatswain” who was Bezler’s deputy, another who was the deputy commander of the 3rd brigade from Gorlovka, and a third who served in the DPR “Viking” battalion. Of these three, the first is the most likely participant in the intercepted conversation.
Shortly before the downing of Boeing 777 on flight MH17, there was indeed heavy fighting in the Marinovka area. On July 16, the day before the downing, a video appeared showing Igor “Strelkov” Girkin and Alexander Borodai in a field northwest of Stepanovka talking about the fighting in the Marinovka area. The video shows the Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system. Separatist forces entered Marinovka on the afternoon of July 17. It was reported that they captured part of the village on July 16.

It is possible to partially establish which downed (or damaged) aircraft Dubinsky is talking about. He mentions that on the day before the call they shot down two Sukhoi Su-25s. On July 16, at about 13:00, two Su-25s were actually hit, but only one of them was actually shot down. indicate that these Su-25s carried out strikes in the Saur-Mogila area, that is, just a few kilometers from the launch site of the fatal Buk missile, the village of Marinovka and the place where Strelkov gave an interview in front of an anti-aircraft missile system. Dubinsky was wrong when he said that on the day of the call another “drying” was shot down. The only plane shot down that day was a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777.
We were able to establish which exactly three “Gvozdikas” Dubinsky is talking about: these are three self-propelled guns 2S1 “Gvozdika” without identification marks and numbers, traveling from Lugansk to Donetsk on July 15, 2014. The convoy that included these three Carnations was repeatedly captured on photo and video (see related Bellingcat investigation). These three Gvozdikas were seen on July 15 at about 19:00 in the center of Donetsk. The convoy with the Carnations was accompanied by the same vehicles (UAZ-469, Toyota RAV4 2010 and a dark blue Volkswagen minibus) that accompanied the Buk 332 on July 17. In the evening of the same day (judging by the mention of the downing of the Sushka, after the airliner crash), Dubinsky probably left Marinovka for Donetsk. That same night, three “Gvozdikas” set off from Donetsk to Marinovka. Judging by witness reports, three Gvozdikas left Donetsk east on the night of July 17-18.

Once again I apologize, it’s hard for me to control myself now...

— Icecoin Getman (@YevhenS)

The international expert-journalism group Bellingcat published a report on the downing of MH17, which states that the transportation of the Buk anti-aircraft missile launcher from which the plane was shot down was organized by Russian Major General Sergei Dubinsky.

Russian Major General Sergei Dubinsky, who organized the transportation of the Buk anti-aircraft missile launcher that was used to shoot down MH17 / bellingcat.com

The full text of the report presented by TSN, according to which, on April 1, 2015, the Dutch media NRC, NOS and De Telegraaf wrote about “Khmury” after the International Investigation Team (IIT) published a video in which telephone conversations were intercepted, but the identities of the participants were not identified negotiations were cut out.

However, on September 18, 2014, the Russian-language online media PolitRussia published an article with a photo and video about “DPR” officer Sergei Petrovsky with the call sign “Khmury”. This publication is based on a video from June 27, 2014, which features an interview with a fighter of the so-called “Donbass People’s Militia” with the call sign “Khmury”. However, the name "Khmury" is not in this video.

Later in our article we will show that the person who came to Slavyansk from Moscow and gave a video interview is obviously not the same “Khmury” who was present during the intercepted phone call. Another video entitled “Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovsky (call sign Khmury, Bad Soldier)”, uploaded on October 2, 2014, features an appeal from a masked man - in accordance with the title of the video, Sergei Petrovsky. This video was uploaded even earlier, on June 12, 2014, under the title “Strelkov’s Special Forces.” It appears to be a different person than the one giving the interview in the June 27 video, as their voices are significantly different.

On November 30, 2014, the Russian news site Politikus published an interview with General Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovsky. The interview states that at that time he headed the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the "Donetsk People's Republic", and that his military career began in Soviet army in 1984, when he went to fight in Afghanistan.

In the 90s, he took part in the wars in South Ossetia and Chechnya, where he met Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, who in 2014 was the “Minister of Defense of the DPR.” In another interview published on December 25, 2014 on the Russian ultranational-patriotic news site Zavtra, he calls himself “Major General Sergei Petrovsky” and recalls that he was born in 1962 in the Donetsk region. It is not clear whether he received the rank of major general in Russian Federation, or in the self-proclaimed “DPR” or both. It is also mentioned that he served in the Soviet and Russian armies for over 30 years.

An earlier interview with Khmury, then a colonel, was published in 2003 on the Russian news resource Izvestia. This interview is mentioned in a 2016 Globalized blog post. In the same post, as well as in another post (dated November 28, 2014), it is indicated that a user who called himself “Bad Soldier”, with an avatar with the inscription “Gloomy”, often posted on the forum of the Antikvariat website, dedicated to history and military relics and other topics. Igor “Strelkov” Girkin also often published reports on the war in Ukraine on this forum. On this forum, “Khmury” wrote on July 19, 2014 that he is Colonel Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovsky, Deputy Minister of Defense of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” for Guard Intelligence.

The real identity of “Sergei Petrovsky” (this name turned out to be a pseudonym) became known thanks to the hacking of Igor Girkin’s email in May 2014. Several letters from Girkin’s mail were published, including one sent on April 28, 2014 by Sergei Dubinsky from the address [email protected]. The letter said: “Hello, Igor, have you forgotten Bison yet?” The name and email address point to a social media page that shows Dubinsky was born on August 9, 1962, and lived in Donetsk, Ukraine. It is worth noting that the date of birth (1962) differs from that stated by the SBU (1964).

By e-mail You can find the forum on the website of the 181st Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 108th Motorized Rifle Division, which took part in the war in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. At the forum, after a list of soldiers and years of service, on July 18, 2010, the guest introduces himself as “Karakhan” and Sergei Dubinsky, who served from 1985 to 1987 and lives in Donetsk. In 2011, he registered under the nickname "Karakhan", indicating that his name was Sergei Dubinsky and that he was born on August 9, 1962, and attached his photograph to military uniform colonel.

Shortly after this, another fellow soldier also posted several photographs of him, and in 2016, another former fellow soldier posted a large photograph of Sergei Dubinsky in uniform, captioning it “Petrovsky, Dvorkovsky, Khmury, Zubr, Bison and our Karakhan,” as well as “” Gloomy "in the DPR." These posts have now been deleted. The video on the forum and on YouTube contains the same photograph of Sergei Dubinsky in military uniform.

The photograph of Sergei Dubinsky in uniform was apparently edited (for example, a fragment of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland is missing). Moreover, the number of medals is quite typical for a colonel who led military career since 1984. However, most of the medals on his uniform are from Soviet era, for example, "Order of the Red Star", "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", the medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR", three medals "For Impeccable Service", as well as anniversary medal"70 years of the USSR Armed Forces." The medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" was given only to people who served in the Armed Forces of the USSR for at least 25 years, and the medals "For Impeccable Service" were given to people who served in the Armed Forces of the USSR for 10, 15 and 20 years.

Thus, a person who had served since 1984 could not receive these medals since the USSR ceased to exist in 1991. Two medals at the bottom right were issued to veterans of the Afghan War: the badge “For Internationalist Fighters” and the medal “From the Grateful Afghan People.” Only the two “Orders of Courage” at the top left were apparently received during service in the Russian army.

The medal at the top right is apparently the anniversary medal "50 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War" Patriotic War 1941-1945", which in 1993 was awarded, according to another source, only to veterans of the 2nd World War, as well as former juvenile prisoners of concentration camps. Since Dubinsky was born in 1962, he could not belong to these categories.

His photograph appeared in articles about the "DPR" on August 10, 2015, September 14, 2015 and November 12, 2015, but it was not until November 19, 2016 that a link to MH17 was made on a website dedicated to Donetsk. These photographs of Sergei Dubinsky were published on the scandalous website “Peacemaker,” which collects personal data (mainly from open sources) of Russians, separatists and alleged collaborators related to the war in Donbass. On February 7, 2017, the InformNapalm open source research team published additional information about Sergei Dubinsky, identifying him current location residence: Russia, Rostov region, Bolshoy Log, Molodezhnaya street 4B.

Bellingcat was able to discover another page of Sergei Nikolaevich Dubinsky. It states that the user was born on August 9, 1962, and lived in Donetsk (Ukraine), as well as in Rostov-on-Don. Judging by the photographs on the page, in the summer of 2010 Dubinsky and his family lived in Russia, or at least visited Russia, but in the summer of 2011 they lived in Ukraine.

According to the open database of the Rostov-on-Don traffic police, Sergei Nikolaevich Dubinsky, who was born on August 9, 1962, lived in Stepnoy on an unknown street in house number 1, apt. 117. From 1998 to 2004, 3 cars were registered in his name. Stepnoe is a military town in the Rostov region, where the 22nd separate special forces brigade, military unit 11659, is based. This brigade belongs to the Main Intelligence Directorate - "GRU".

Photos in Dubinsky's album prove that in the fall and December 2014 he was in Donetsk (Ukraine). The photo, taken in the fall of 2014, shows Dubinsky with Russian actor Mikhail Porechenkov, who visited Donetsk on October 30, 2014.

In a photo taken in December 2014, with Dubinsky in the photo Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin, who is banned from entering Ukraine for supporting pro-Russian separatists, as well as Okhlobystin’s wife Oksana Arbuzova. Okhlobystin visited Donbass at the end of November 2014, and Donetsk on November 30, 2014. Okhlobystin met with Igor “Strelkov” Girkin and claimed that he received a watch for Christmas from “Khmury” - Major General Sergei Nikolaevich Petrovsky.

In the photo taken in December 2014, Dubinsky in Russian uniform Major General It can be compared, for example, with the uniform of the speaker of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov. Dubensky, one might assume, is wearing a “GRU Special Forces” patch. At the same time, the emblem is clearly visible on the patch Ground Forces Russia, although Dubinsky allegedly resigned in April 2014, going to serve in the “DPR”.

Apparently, Dubinsky left Donetsk in early 2015; at the same time, he was allegedly banned from entering the “DPR” for extorting money from businessmen. According to the resolution of the Aksaysky District Court of the Rostov Region dated April 17, 2015, funds were recovered from Dubinsky. It is also mentioned that he received a pension for his service in various military units. The first of them is military unit No. 61019. Apparently, this part was formed quite a long time ago - there is no information about it on the Internet. The second of the mentioned units is the already mentioned above military unit No. 11659 - the 22nd special forces brigade, and the third - military unit No. 51019 - the 116th separate radio unit for special purposes, also located in Stepnoye.

Photos published in the summer of 2016 show new house Dubinsky, who was geolocalized to the same address as indicated in the InformNapalm article: Rostov region, Bolshoi Log, Molodezhnaya street. It was not possible to confirm only the house number, because Google maps and Yandex do not indicate the numbers of all houses on this street. However, it is likely that the house number is 4a, not 4b. The background of the photo corresponds to Google Streetview. Another photo of Dubinsky also shows a Canadian-made Can-Am Commander XT all-terrain vehicle. A new all-terrain vehicle of this model costs almost $15,000.

Bellingcat came to this conclusion: the person whose phone was tapped by the Security Service of Ukraine on July 17, 2014 (if the SBU correctly identified his voice and/or knew that the phone belonging to him was being tapped and, accordingly, was related to the transportation of the Buk that was shot down in that same day MH17) - this is Sergei Nikolaevich Dubinsky with the call sign “Khmury”.