March 9, 2020 – Het proces tegen drie Russen en een Oekraïener op beschuldiging
van het neerhalen van vlucht MH17 van Malaysia Airlines is in Nederland begonnen. De verdachten, die vermoedelijk in Rusland verblijven, zullen naar verwachting niet verschijnen voor de rechtbank
The suspects are Igor Girkin, a former colonel of Russia’s FSB spy service; Sergey Dubinskiy, employed by Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency; and Oleg Pulatov, a former soldier with the GRU’s special forces spetsnaz unit. All were Russian soldiers previously sent abroad.
A fourth suspect, Leonid Kharchenko, is a Ukrainian. He led a military combat unit in the city of Donetsk as a commander, it was alleged.
The Dutch-led investigators concluded in May 2018 that the Buk missile system belonged to 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade, based in the Russian city of Kursk.
This trial is the culmination of the most complex criminal investigation in Dutch history. Citizens of 10 different countries died on the airliner.
Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the deadly attack on 17 July 2014
