MH17 lost speed, altitude & veered 14km off course before being tailed by Ukrainian jet' - Russians blame CIA

Moscow - Russia said its flight records show a Ukrainian fighter jet was flying close to the Malaysian passenger airliner just before it crashed and that Kiev was operating radar stations used for missile systems.

Separately, a Russian television program has claimed that the US Central Intelligence Agency was behind the downing of the commercial jet liner.

Moscow also denied supplying Ukrainian separatists with Buk missile systems or any other weapons, as it sought to head off international accusations it was responsible for the downing of the Malaysian plane with 298 people on board.

Armed with a number of slides, charts and images, two high-ranking officials of Russia’s General Staff laid out a case against Ukraine at a specially called briefing.

Lieutenant-General Andrei Kartopolov said the Malaysian plane strayed north of its planned route, adding that a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter jet, which is typically equipped with air-to-air missiles, had been recorded in the proximity of the Boeing 777.

Lieutenant-General Andrey Kartopolov, head of main operational department of Russian military's General Staff, offered evidence that a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet had flown between 3 to 5 kilometres Â? from the Malaysia Airlines jet. Photo: AP

The Malaysian plane “deviated from its route to the North ... The maximum deviation was 14 kilometres,” he said.

“An altitude gain was recorded for a Ukrainian armed forces plane,” he told the briefing. “Its distance from the Malaysian Boeing was three to five kilometres,” he said, noting that the SU-25 is capable of reaching a height of 10,000 metres “for a brief time.”

“With what aim was a military plane flying along a civilian aviation route practically at the same time and at the same flight level as a passenger liner?” said General Kartopolov. “We would like to receive an answer to this question.”

He also said that the Russian defence ministry detected unusual activity from radar stations that are used to operate missile systems on the day of the tragedy.

“From July 17 (Thursday) the intensity of the operation of Ukrainian radar stations increased to the maximum,” said General Kartopolov.

Stench: A rebel can be seen holding his nose as the door to a carriage containing the heaped bodies is opened

He said seven radar stations were operating close to the area of the disaster Tuesday, eight on Wednesday and nine on the day of the crash, Thursday.

After the crash, just four radar stations were operating in the area on Friday and just two on Saturday, he added, citing data.

General Kartopolov insisted Russia had not supplied Ukrainian separatists with Buk missile systems or any other weapons.

“I want to stress that Russia did not give the rebels Buk missile systems or any other kinds of weapons or military hardware,” he told reporters.

The general's explanation comes as US network NBC reported that a Russian broadcaster pinned the blame for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on the Central Intelligence Agency.

The report, on Russia's Channel One, claimed the United States had planned to do the same thing during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis - an event that brought the US and Russia close to nuclear war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, sits in an aircraft cockpit of the Progress State Research and Production Space Centre (also known as TsSKB-Progress) in Samara, Russia.

Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in March has sparked the biggest East-West crisis since the Cold War. AFP, Fairfax

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