Kremlin: Rebel rocket did not down MH17 airliner over Ukraine

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that radar data showed that Malaysian airliner MH17 was definitely not brought down by a rocket fired from territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014. International prosecutors investigating the plane's downing are due to report their findings later on Wednesday and have said they will reveal the firing location and type of BUK missile used in the attack. Asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters that data obtained by the Russian military had already made it clear that the rocket had not been fired from rebel territory, but from elsewhere. "First-hand radar data identified all flying objects which could have been launched or in the air over the territory controlled by rebels at that moment," said Peskov. "The data are clear-cut...there is no rocket. If there was a rocket, it could only have been fired from elsewhere." (Reporting by Alexander Winning and Anton Zverev; Editing by Andrew Osborn)