Dutch court confirms Malaysia Airlines MH17 shot down by Russian-made missile

In a file photo taken on Nov 11, 2014, journalists look at parts of Malaysia Airlines MH17 at the crash site in Donetsk, Ukraine. PHOTO: AFP

AMSTERDAM - Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down in 2014 by a Russian-made missile fired from a field in eastern Ukraine, the Dutch court handling the trial of four suspects in the downing of the plane said on Thursday.

“The court is of the opinion that MH17 was brought down by the firing of a BUK missile from a farm field near Pervomaisk, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members,” presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

The court said Russia had overall control of the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine at the time when the plane was shot down.

“From half May 2014 Russia had so-called overall control over the People’s Republic of Donetsk,” Mr Steenhuis said, referring to the region where the passenger flight was shot down on July 17, 2014.

The court was giving its verdict on Thursday in the trial of four men over the downing of MAS Flight MH17 above Ukraine, as tensions soar over Russia’s invasion eight years later.

The judges convicted three men for the murder of 298 people in the 2014 incident, and acquitted a fourth.

The men convicted were former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, as well as Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader. Russian Oleg Pulatov was acquitted.

The suspects were not in court as they have refused to attend the two-and-a-half-year trial.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed when the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit over separatist-held eastern Ukraine by what investigators say was a missile supplied by Moscow.

Prosecutors have demanded life sentences for the suspects on charges of murder and causing an aircraft to crash, although the men are unlikely to serve time if convicted.

The suspects were allegedly part of Kremlin-backed forces and had key roles in bringing the BUK missile from a military base in Russia and deploying it at the launch site – even if they did not pull the trigger.

The verdict was read out at a high-security court near Schiphol Airport, where the doomed plane took off in 2014.

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‘Hunt them down’

Bereaved relatives travelled from around the world to hear the ruling after a long fight for justice. The victims were from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians.

Families from several countries visited the Dutch national MH17 monument in the town of Vijfhuizen on the eve of the verdict.

The crash triggered global outrage and sanctions against Moscow, with Ukraine’s famed sunflower fields littered with bodies and wreckage. Some victims, including children, were still strapped into their seats.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed when the Boeing 777 was hit by what investigators say was a missile supplied by Moscow. PHOTO: AFP

Eight years later, the region where MH17 crashed has become one of the key battlegrounds in Russia’s nearly nine-month-old war in Ukraine.

The trial opened in March 2020 with a sombre reading of the names of all 298 victims, 196 of whom were from the Netherlands.

The court had also visited the twisted wreckage of the plane, which has been reconstructed at a Dutch military base.

Three of the suspects were formally being tried in absentia, while Pulatov has had legal representation at the trial and made a video statement in which he said he was not guilty.

‘Alternative scenarios’

Prosecutors say Girkin, 51, who became the so-called defence minister of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, was in contact with Russia to obtain the missile system. He has denied the rebels were involved in downing MH17.

Girkin recently criticised the Russian military over its handling of this year’s invasion and reportedly volunteered to fight in Ukraine.

The wrecked cockipt of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in a file photo taken on Oct 13, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

Dubinskiy, 60, who has also been tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists’ military intelligence chief and was responsible for giving orders about the missile.

Pulatov, 56, an ex-Russian special forces soldier, and Kharchenko, 50, who allegedly led a separatist unit, were subordinates who played a more direct role in transporting the missile, prosecutors said.

The BUK missile had been identified as coming from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk in Russia, the court heard.

Moscow has denied all involvement.

The verdict comes against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sparked fears of a wider international war. REUTERS, AFP

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