From the BBC:
“MH17: Four charged with shooting down plane over Ukraine”
For the first time since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was
shot down in July 2014, prosecutors have announced charges against suspects in
the case. Three Russians and a Ukrainian have been charged with bringing a
missile into the area in eastern Ukraine and with murdering 298 passengers and
crew. The passenger flight was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it
was shot down over conflict-hit Ukraine. Russia said the accusations against
its military were "absolutely threadbare". International arrest
warrants have been issued for the four suspects and a court case will begin in
the Netherlands on 9 March 2020. The
Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT) named the men as Igor Girkin, Sergei
Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov from Russia, as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. The
JIT, which is seeking to try the suspects under Dutch law, had previously said
it had a "long list" of persons of interest and appealed again for
witnesses as the investigation continued.
Who are the suspects?
The most prominent of the four is Igor Girkin (also known as
Strelkov), who prosecutors say is a former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence
service. He was given the minister of defence title in the rebel-held eastern
Ukrainian city of Donetsk. He is
believed to be the highest military officer in the area who was in direct
contact with the Russian Federation. In a statement Mr Girkin said: "I can
only say that militia did not shoot down the Boeing."
The others charged are:
- Sergei Dubinsky (known as Khmury), who prosecutors say was
employed by Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, was a deputy of Mr
Girkin and in regular contact with Russia
- Oleg Pulatov, known as Giurza, who the JIT says was a former
soldier of GRU special forces and deputy head of the intelligence service in
Donetsk
- Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko, who has no military
background but led a combat unit as a commander in eastern Ukraine, according
to prosecutors
"These suspects are seen to have played an important
role in the death of 298 innocent civilians", said Dutch chief prosecutor
Fred Westerbeke. "Although they did not push the button themselves, we
suspect them of close co-operation to get the [missile launcher] where it was,
with the aim to shoot down an aeroplane." Investigators, he added, had
"evidence showing that Russia provided the missile launcher".
What is known about flight MH17?
The passenger jet left Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at 10:15
GMT on 17 July 2014 and was due to arrive at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia the
following day. A few hours after take-off, the plane lost contact with air
traffic control about 50km (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border. At the
time, an armed conflict was raging on the ground in eastern Ukraine between
Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces, and several
government military aircraft had been downed in the previous weeks, while
government air strikes were being carried out on rebel-held areas. The plane crashed in the Donetsk area, in
territory controlled by separatists. Parts of the wreckage were found
distributed over an area of about 50 sq km (19 square miles). In October 2015, the Dutch Safety Board
concluded the plane had been hit by a Buk missile, causing it to break apart in
mid-air. The JIT - which includes
officials from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine -
concluded in May 2018 that the missile system belonged to the 53rd
Anti-Aircraft Missile brigade, based in the western Russian city of Kursk. It
produced evidence that it said proved how the missile system had reached
eastern Ukraine. Russia responded by
denying any of its anti-aircraft missile systems had ever crossed the Ukrainian
border. Australia and the Netherlands have both officially held Russia
responsible for the crash.
Will the suspects ever face trial?
Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement that it
rejected the findings of the JIT which were "aimed at discrediting the
Russian Federation in the eyes of the international community". Unnamed
Dutch officials have told news agencies that Russia refused to co-operate with
the investigation but the foreign ministry denied this, saying Russia had
always been interested in establishing the truth. Russia accused the JIT of using dubious
"sources of information", including evidence "fabricated"
by Ukraine, while ignoring evidence offered by Russia. Under Article 61 of Russia's constitution, no
Russian citizen can be extradited to another state. A former rebel official in Donetsk, Andrei
Purgin, said it was "absurd" to accuse the separatists of involvement
in downing the plane, Russia's Interfax news agency reports. Asked by AFP news agency, Ukrainian security
services said they had "no information" on Leonid Kharchenko's
whereabouts or whether he was even still alive.
Who has welcomed the charges?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the Dutch-led
inquiry's conclusions, Reuters news agency reports. He said he hoped
"those who are guilty of this brazen murder of innocent children, woman
and men will be put in the dock". UK
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Russia "must co-operate fully with the
prosecution and provide any assistance it requests" in accordance with UN
Security Council resolution 2166, which was passed in response to the downing
of MH17. "The international community stands together against the impunity
of those responsible for the despicable murder of 298 innocent people," he
added. Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the bringing of charges marked an
"important milestone in the efforts to uncover the full truth and ensure
that justice is done".
Who were the victims?
A total of 283 passengers, including 80 children, and 15 crew
members were killed on the flight. Those killed were from across the world The dead included 193 Dutch nationals, 43
Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 Britons, four Belgians, four
Germans, three Philippine nationals, one New Zealander and one Canadian.
"It's a start" - Silene Fredriksz, mother of one of
the victims Speaking ahead of
Wednesday's announcement, Silene Fredriksz, who lost her son Bryce, said that
in the five years since the downing of MH17, some relatives had died not knowing
the truth. "We all get older... I hope that I will know the truth before I
close my eyes," she said. Barry Sweeney, father of 28-year-old British
victim Liam, said he was still looking for the truth. "It's not going to
bring anyone back, but if I found out why it happened, it would bring a bit of
closure," he said.
^ You can not take Putin or the Russian Government at their
word since they have lied numerous times in the near-recent past. They lied when
they said that the Russian Military did not invade or occupy Crimea, Ukraine in
2014. It wasn’t until they had staged an illegal election (with guns pointed at
the Crimeans) and annexed Crimea to Russia that even Putin laughingly said that
Russian soldiers had been in Crimea the whole time. The Russian Government and
Putin have said that no Russian soldiers are in Donbas in eastern Ukraine and
yet all the evidence inside Donbas and inside Russia shows the opposite to be
true. The Russian Government has not only supplied military weapons to the
rebels in Donbas, Ukraine since 2014, but Russian soldiers. The soldiers have
posted pictures, posts, made calls, etc. from inside the Donbas warzone (the
Russian Government even made a law saying their soldiers were forbidden to post
anything - yet they continue to do so.)
The Russian Government doesn’t even respect the bodies of their dead soldiers.
Those killed while fighting in Donbas, Ukraine are returned to Russia and
either buried under a false name or are buried under their real name with a fake
cause of death officially given. Their families are then left without knowing
the truth and their death is for nothing. With all of that said I do believe
that Russia was responsible for shooting down MH17 and killing all the innocent
men, women and children aboard. The Donbas War in eastern Ukraine was not going
as “well” for the Russians as their invasion, occupation and annexation of
Crimea, Ukraine had and so the Russians clearly wanted to do something major to
break the stalemate and by shooting down a non-Ukrainian and non-Russian airline
with many different nationalities on it the Russians probably hoped that the International
Community would be so outraged that they would try to force Ukraine to simply
give-up their territory to the Russians and end the war. That didn’t happen. In
fact it had the exact opposite effect. The International Community saw what
lengths Putin and the Russians would go to (ie. the murder of innocent people)
and rather than give-in to Russia they (the International Community) stood-up
to them with sanctions that continue to show the Russian Government and Putin,
in particular, that we would not simply stand-by and give Russia Carte Blanche
in Ukraine. Russia can continue to officially deny being in Donbas, Ukraine and
can continue to officially deny shooting down MH17, but with all the evidence
from around the world (including inside Russia itself) showing their guilt and
the fact that Putin has lied in the past and then finally admitted the truth
with regards to his country’s role in Ukraine as well as Russia refusing to
cooperate in the investigation over the years tends to point to Russia’s
involvement and guilt. Putin recently authorized giving Russian Citizenship to rebels
in Donbas, Ukraine probably because he is worried that the 5 year virtual stalemate
in the Donbas War could be ending soon with Russia and the rebels there not
winning. Putin has gambled a lot and it seems that the Russian people are
finally starting to call him on all his losses the same way the International
Community has for many years now. ^
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