KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — The Ukrainian military pilot accused by Russia of gunning down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 four years ago was found dead at his home in Mykolaiv, Ukraine on Sunday.

According to a BBC report, Capt Vladyslav Voloshyn, 29, allegedly shot himself to death with an unregistered gun at his apartment near the Black Sea.

A military service pistol was also recovered from the scene and is being examined.

A statement from Mykolaiv police on Facebook said his death was described as “suicide”, but is still being investigated under the “premeditated murder” section of the Ukrainian penal code.

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Voloshyn’s family told authorities that the fighter pilot, who had resigned from the air force and had been in charge of the Mykolaiv airport, had been battling depression.

Russian authorities had alleged that Voloshyn was involved in the July 17, 2014 tragedy in which Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine.

The flight had been carrying 298 passengers and crew at the time, two-thirds of whom were Dutch.

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Voloshyn had maintained that the allegations were lies and untrue.

Besides accusing Voloshyn, the Russian authorities also came up with a theory that a Ukrainian Buk missile, which had been moved from Russia into eastern Ukraine, had destroyed the MH17 flight.

These claims were rejected by Dutch authorities and other independent experts as the evidence pointed to a Buk fired by pro-Russian rebels or a Russian military unit.

A Ukrainian political expert Bogdan Bezpalko reportedly told Russia’s Sputnik News that: “One cannot help but think that the other side may have eliminated him as a dangerous witness who could have lifted the veil of secrecy over the downing of MH17, which would subsequently strengthen Russia’s position.”

Voloshyn was also mourned by peers, among them journalist Yuriy Butusov, who commended him as a brave pilot who had fought against the Russian-backed rebels.

“Dear Vlad, how can this be?! Why?!” he said. “He didn’t let himself break down, he wasn’t depressed at all — he always acted as an exemplary officer.”

“I didn’t hear him speak of any enemies or unresolved problems,” he said.

The deceased fighter pilot is survived by his wife, a boy and a two-year-old girl.