'MH17 jet was shot down by missile launcher put on the back of my Volvo': Ukrainian says footage proves pro-Russian separatists commandeered his truck to transport weapon 

• Key clue links pro-Moscow rebels to truck seen carrying BUK missile system
• Owner of 'only such white Volvo truck in Donetsk region' has identified his lorry and said it was commandeered by separatists
• Footage shot by clandestine Ukrainian police team show image of a BUK weapons system on a Volvo truck
  

By WILL STEWART

PUBLISHED: 09:01 GMT, 4 August 2014 | UPDATED: 12:50 GMT, 4 August 2014

A key clue has linked pro-Moscow rebels to the truck seen carrying the BUK missile system towards Russia hours after MH17 was downed, it is claimed.

The owner of what is said to be the only such white Volvo truck in the Donetsk region of Ukraine has identified his lorry and said it was commandeered by separatists who took over his premises nine days before the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot out of the sky, killing all 298 people on board.

Footage shot by a clandestine Ukrainian police team showed an image of a BUK weapons system on a Volvo truck being smuggled out of eastern Ukraine in the early hours of July 18, the day after the plane crash.

A Lithuanian news website revealed it has spoken to the truck's owner - identified only as Vasiliy - stressing: 'Western intelligence agencies have managed to establish the truck's origin and movements.'

Website alfa.lt said that Vasiliy - a 'new witness to this horrible crime' - now fears for his life.

It is believed he could identify the rebels who commandeered his premises and vehicles, a potentially key link in building a case against those responsible for downing the aircraft.

Dailymail