Four charged with shooting down MH17
Three Russians and a Ukrainian have been charged with shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014.
They are accused of bringing a missile into the area of eastern Ukraine and murdering all 298 passengers and crew on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
All four will be tried in the Netherlands on March 9 next year.
The Dutch-led joint investigation team named the accused as Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov from Russia and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.
Prosecutors claim Girkin (also known as Strelkov) is a former colonel in Russia’s intelligence service. He held the title of minister of defence in the rebel-held eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
In a statement, he said: "I can only say that militia did not shoot down the Boeing."
Dubinsky, also known as Khmury, was employed by Russia’s military intelligence agency, according to prosecutors, and was Girkin’s deputy, they say.
Pulatov, also known as Girurza, was a former soldier and deputy head of the intelligence service in Donetsk, according to the JIT.
Kharchenko led a combat unit as a commander in eastern Ukraine, say prosecutors.
They are not accused of firing the missile themselves, but rather of orchestrating the attack.
Investigators claim to have evidence that Russia provided the missile launcher.
However, it is likely that the accused will be tried in their absence, if at all, as Russia’s constitution doesn’t allow for Russian citizens to be extradited to another state and Ukrainian security services claim to have no information on the whereabouts of Kharchenko.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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