A court in the Netherlands announced its verdict in the MH17 case. The defendants, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky, and Leonid Kharchenko, were found guilty of shooting down the MH17 plane.

“They are presumed guilty of the murders 298 times,” the court said in a statement. The court session was live-broadcast.

One more suspect — Oleg Pulatov — is believed to be innocent.

The court concluded that he was not deeply involved in the process of launching a missile at a passenger plane in comparison with the other two defendants — Kharchenko and Dubinsky. Therefore, he is not as criminally liable as they are.

Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky, and Leonid Kharchenko were sentenced to life imprisonment.

In addition, the court ruled that Girkin, Dubinsky, and Kharchenko should pay a minimum of 16 million euros in compensation to the relatives of the victims.

The court notes that they take into account all the circumstances and the level of involvement of the accused in the destruction of the aircraft.

The court emphasized: all the evidence obtained confirms that the aircraft was shot down by the Buk air defense system. The court rejects any doubt that the photos, video footage and other evidence may have been manipulated.

The international investigation team considered other scenarios for the airliner, but they were rejected, since everything shows exactly the use of Russian air defense systems.

The court is confident that the plane was MH17 destroyed by a BUK missile from the territory of Pervomaisky occupied by Russia.

The court further confirmed the two defendants’ (Dubinsky and Kharchenko) active involvement in the delivery of air defense systems to the missile launch site.

As the “Minister of Defense of the DPR,” the suspect Girkin was in charge of using the arsenal and coordinating its use with local commanders.

The crew using weapons such as the Buk air defense system needs training, so the court considers the downing of the aircraft a deliberate and prepared action.

The MH17 case

On July 17, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines plane flew MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and was shot down in the Donetsk region in a zone controlled by Russian troops. 298 people were killed in the crash – all passengers and crew members.

The Netherlands led an international investigation into the disaster – both technical and criminal.

It was established that the aircraft was shot down by a Buk missile. The Buk anti-aircraft missile system belonged to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Russian Armed Forces. This brigade was based near Kursk, and the air defense system was transported to the occupied part of Donbass across the border with Ukraine, which was under Russian control.

The investigation also showed that on the night after the aircraft was shot down, the equipment was returned back to Russia.

The Dutch prosecutor’s office asked for a life sentence for four defendants: former FSB officer Igor Girkin (Strelkov) and two more Russian citizens – Sergey Dubinsky (Khmuriy) and Oleg Pulatov (Gyurza). Also among the accused was Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko (“Mole”).

The prosecution considered their involvement in the destruction of the aircraft to be proven. They denied their guilt.

Russia also categorically rejected its involvement in the MH17 disaster.