Today marks fifth anniversary of MH17 crash

In the amount of victims, the plane crash is the largest in the history of Ukraine. There were 192 Dutch nationals (including one with dual US citizenship), 44 Malaysians (including 15 crewmembers and two infants), 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 10 Britons (including one with dual South African citizenship), four Germans, four Belgians, three citizens of Philippines, one citizen of Canada and one citizen of New Zealand on board.

From the first days of the crash, Ukraine has consistently adhered to the assumption that the plane was shot down by a Buk missile launcher originating from Russia fired by separatists or Russian military. The same conclusion was made by the Dutch Safety Board, which in October 2015 released the final technical report on MH17 crash. In the report, the Dutch Safety Board says that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down by a 9N314M-model warhead carried on the 9M38M1 missile, as installed on the Buk surface-to-air missile system. According to Chairman of the Dutch Safety Board Tjibbe Joustra, the missile was brought from Russia into the militant-controlled part of Ukraine.

At the same time, the Bellingcat international group of investigative journalists identified the number of a Buk missile launcher from Russia’s 53rd anti-aircraft brigade that had been used to down the plane. In addition, the Bellingcat conducted its own investigation, analyzing social networks and other open sources, and prepared a report in which it identified 20 Russian service members involved in downing MH17. The report with the names and photos of the servicemen was submitted to the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service.

Later, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) published its conclusions, managing to establish the most part of the route of the Buk launcher’s transfer to the territory of Ukraine. According to the investigation, the Buk launcher moved from Russia to the territory of eastern Ukraine and was later taken back to the Russian Federation. The JIT’s findings actually coincide with the results of the Bellingcat’s investigation.

On July 5, 2017, the states participating in the International Investigation Team decided that the criminal proceedings in the case of downing MH17 flight would be subjected to the national jurisdiction of the Netherlands. On June 19, 2019, the names of three Russians and one Ukrainian were made public, whom the JIT called involved in shooting down MH17. The first cour hearing in the case was scheduled for March 9, 2020.

On July 7, 2017, Ukraine and the Netherlands signed a bilateral agreement on international legal cooperation with regard to the downing of flight MH17. Ukraine has started the procedure for submitting the files of criminal proceedings in the case of downing MH17 to the Netherlands.

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