An international team of investigators announced Wednesday that there are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the person who approved the supply of anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
The Joint Investigation Team, made up of experts from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine, has been examining the crew of the missile system and those who ordered its deployment in Ukraine.
MH17 was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on July 17, 2014, when it was shot out of the sky.
Dutch prosecutors said in their summary of the investigation findings on Wednesday that “there are strong indications that the Russian president decided to supply” a Buk missile system to Ukrainian separatists. A Buk system from the Russian Army’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based in the city of Kursk, was used to shoot down the MH17.
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People walk through the rubble at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the town of Grabovo, Ukraine, on July 17, 2014. (AP/Dmitry Lovetsky)
But prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said that without Russian cooperation in the investigation, “the investigation has now reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted.”
The announcement comes nearly three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel for their role in the downing of the plane. A Russian was acquitted by the court.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left during a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, is accused of approving the supply of weapons used to fire MH17 out of the sky in July 2014. (AP/Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
None of the suspects appeared for trial and it was unclear if the three who were found guilty of multiple murders will ever serve their sentences.
The convictions and the court’s conclusion that the Buk surface-to-air missile came from a Russian military base were seen as a clear indication that Moscow played a role in the tragedy. Russia has always denied its involvement. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the court in November of caving in to pressure from Dutch politicians, prosecutors and the media.
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From left: David McLean, Australia; Asha Hoe Soo Lian, Malaysia; Eric van der Sypt, Belgium; and Oleksandr Bannyk, Ukraine, during the Joint Investigation Team press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, on Wednesday. (AP/Peter Dejong)
The convictions held that Moscow had overall control in 2014 over the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the breakaway area of eastern Ukraine where the missile was launched.
In addition to the criminal trial that took place in the Netherlands, the Dutch and Ukrainian governments are suing Russia at the European Court of Human Rights for its alleged role in the downing of MH17.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
