Two Russians guilty of 298 murders on f light MH17

Two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist were yesterday found guilty of the murders of 298 people on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.

The Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpar was shot down over eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists were fighting government troops.

The men were tried in absentia and sentenced to life in jail by a Dutch court. They are unlikely to spend time behind bars because Russia will not extradite them.

The missile attack was one of the most notorious war crimes of a conflict that preceded the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

The defendants claimed the Russian-supplied Buk missile had been intended to shoot down a Ukrainian military jet instead. Igor Girkin, who at the time was the leader of the socalled Donetsk People’s Republic and a former spy, was convicted of deploying the missile. Sergei Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko were found to have overseen its transport from Russia to eastern Ukraine. A third Russian, oleg Pulatov, was acquitted, also in absentia.

The 298 aboard MH17 included 80 children and 15 crew. Ten among them were Britons. The aircraft was cruising at 33,000ft over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 – a time when this altitude was considered safe.

Presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said evidence presented at the twoyear trial proved the aircraft was brought down by a Buk missile fired by pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels.

Investigation: The downed plane Those who launched the weapon have never been publicly identified.

The court heard the missile launcher was sourced from Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade.

Moscow effectively controlled the Donetsk region at the time and it remains predominantly occupied by Vladimir Putin’s troops.

Silene Fredriksz, who lost her 23year- old son in the tragedy, told a BBC documentary – MH17: The Search For Truth – that the wholesale Ukraine conflict could have been avoided had the world taken a harder line in 2014. She said: ‘Putin has never been stopped, and still has not been stopped. And he will not stop until he is stopped. I hope the world wakes up now, because we knew it already eight years ago.’

Anton Kotte, whose son, daughterin-law and grandson were killed, said: ‘The truth on the table – that is the most important thing.’

Kremlin officials said they would examine the court’s findings.

The verdict came as Russia again targeted Ukraine’s energy facilities and cities. Four were killed and more than two dozen wounded in yesterday’s drone and missile strikes.

‘I hope the world wakes up now’