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After years of investigation, an international team of investigators reported on February 8 that they found “serious indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the shipment of the missile launcher with which pro-Russian separatists shot down the MH17 civilian flight in Ukraine, a tragedy that in 2014 it left 298 people dead. However, prosecutors say the evidence would not be enough to bring the Kremlin leader to trial.
It was one of the biggest air tragedies that left several nations and thousands of families in mourning in 2014.
The demolition of flight MH17 in the Ukraine, when it was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killed its 298 occupants of ten nationalities, most of them Dutch.
Now, almost nine years later, the Joint Investigation Team in charge of the case says that it found “solid indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be responsible for his green light to send weapons.
According to investigators, at that time the Kremlin leader approved the supply of heavy anti-aircraft weapons, including those that brought down the Malaysia Airlines aircraft.
“There are strong indications that in Russia the decision has been made by the president on the provision of the BUK missile system to the separatists of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic,” said the group of experts, whose conclusion is based on official documents and conversations intercepted in the days before the tragedy.
Breaking News: Vladimir Putin likely approved supply of a missile system separatists used in 2014 to down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, commonly known as MH17, over Ukraine, killing 298, an inquiry found. https://t.co/eYu1aYO8Y5
—The New York Times (@nytimes) February 8, 2023
While previous findings had indicated that the plane was hit by a Russian missile, this is the first time that responsibility would point squarely at Putin.
The Russian president would not be brought to justice
Despite the findings, the prosecutors also indicated that the evidence in their possession is not sufficient to bring Putin or any other suspect to justice, for which they added that they are suspending the investigation.
“Although we are talking about solid evidence, the high level of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached,” said Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer, who stressed that without Russian cooperation, “the investigation has now reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted,” she said.
The events occurred in the midst of the so-called Donbass war, which was fought that year and in the midst of which Putin annexed the province of Crimea, in southern Ukraine.
The investigative team played a recording of an intercepted phone call, which they claimed Putin could be heard discussing the conflict in the east of his neighboring country.
In addition to the fact that cooperation from Russia would be necessary to collect stronger evidence, Van Boetzelaer stressed that as head of state, Putin would have immunity from prosecution in the Netherlands.
“Are we disappointed? No, because we think we’ve gone further than we ever thought. Would we have liked to go further? Of course I do,” said Andy Kraag of the Netherlands police.
For now, the only major investigation that aimed to unmask one of the greatest catastrophes for civil aviation under the circumstances of war is closed.
“We are very clear about what happened, but the answer to the question of why MH17 was shot down still remains in Russia,” Kraag concluded.
In November 2022, three men, two Russian nationals and one Ukrainian, were sentenced to life in prison for murder and for playing a key role in the destruction of MH17.
With Reuters and EFE
