Another step closer to justice for Blackpool's Glenn Thomas

People walk amongst the debris at the crash site of the passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine.

Missile which downed Blackpool man's flight was 'Russian' say investigators

Jordan Withers, whose uncle Glenn Thomas, 49, died in the tragedy says the discovery is the most significant news he and his family have had in years.

Detailed analysis of video images by Dutch investigators found the BUK missile, which brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 nearly four years ago, came from the Russian military’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the Russian city of Kursk.

The passenger jet was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing 298 people.

Jordan, who lives in Blackpool, said: “This is a huge revelation but it has not come as a surprise.

“It’s the first bit of good information we have had for a number of years. In 2016 we were told it was a BUK missile that brought it down.

“This is the next bit of significant information we have received and it feels as though we are inching towards justice.”

But Jordan said he is now waiting for someone to be held accountable.

He added: “Now I just want to know what is going to be done next. There has been no real accountability and no-one has taken the blame.

“I am interested to see the reaction from the international community and also from people like Teresa May and Boris Johnson.

“Nothing is going to bring my uncle back but I feel we are getting towards a stage of closure”.

Glenn (inset) and his twin sister Tracey were due to celebrate their 50th birthday just weeks after the tragedy.

“It was going to be a huge big do,” Jordan previously told The Gazette. “But it never happened.”