By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

Putin Decided To Give The Missile That Downed MH17

According to CNN and others, there are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the decision to provide separatists in Ukraine with the missile that shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, Dutch investigators said Wednesday.

An international team of investigators said Wednesday it found that Vladimir Putin approved the supply of heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 with a Russian missile.

“Although we speak of strong indications, the high bar of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached,” Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said, adding that without Russian cooperation, “the investigation has now reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted.”

She also said that, as head of state, Putin would have immunity from prosecution in the Netherlands. The team recorded an intercepted phone call in which they said Putin could be heard discussing the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

“Are we disappointed? No, because we think we came further than we had ever thought in 2014. Would we have liked to come further? Of course, yes,” said Andy Kraag of the Dutch police.

The team informed relatives of those killed in the downing of MH17 of their findings before making them public.

“There was a disappointment because ... they wanted to know why MH17 was shot down,” Kraag said. “We’re clear on what has happened, but the answer to why MH17 was shot down remains in Russia.”

Van Boetzelaer said that while the investigation is being suspended, phone lines will remain open for possible witnesses who may still want to provide evidence. If that happens, the inquiry could be reactivated.

Russian officials say that a decision to provide rebels with military support over the summer of 2014 was in Putin’s hands.

A decision to supply arms was postponed for a week “because only one person makes a decision (…), the person currently at a summit in France,” the investigative team said, citing a phone conversation that was referring to Putin.

Prosecutors said that at the time, Putin was at a commemoration of D-Day in France. The announcement by the investigative team comes nearly three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel for their roles in shooting down the plane. The court acquitted one Russian.

None of the suspects appeared for the trial, and it was unclear if the three who were found guilty of multiple murders would ever serve their sentences.

The convictions and the court’s finding that the surface-to-air Buk missile came from a Russian military base clearly indicated that Moscow had a role in the tragedy. Russia has always denied involvement. In November, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the court of bowing to pressure from Dutch politicians, prosecutors, and the news media.

But the November convictions held that Moscow was in overall control in 2014 over the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the separatist area of eastern Ukraine where the missile was launched. The Buk missile system came from the Russian military’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based in Kursk.

The Joint Investigation Team comprises experts from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium, and Ukraine. Most of the victims were Dutch. It had continued to investigate the crew of the missile system that brought down the plane and those who ordered its deployment in Ukraine.

As well as the criminal trial in the Netherlands, the Dutch and Ukrainian governments are suing Russia at the European Court of Human Rights over its alleged role in the downing of MH17.

The findings revealed Wednesday will likely strengthen the case at the human rights court and could also be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court investigating possible war crimes in Ukraine dating to the start of the separatist conflict.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to pursue justice for 38 Australian citizens and residents who died aboard MH17, describing Putin as “reprehensible.”

“The shooting down of MH17 was an act of terrorism that had an impact here in Australia but on many countries as well. And we will continue to pursue these issues with every avenue at our disposal,” Albanese said in the Australian capital Canberra.

“This is a guy who runs an authoritarian regime that doesn’t care about human rights, that doesn’t care about the devastation of communities — whether it be in Ukraine, whether it be the oppression of his citizens, or whether it acts outside of Russia, of which we’ve seen a number,” Albanese added.

 

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