“A very important decision was adopted today in the Netherlands. Russia lied a lot about this catastrophe, but nevertheless, the key facts were established,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram following a Dutch court’s ruling in the case.
The court on Thursday found three men guilty of murder for taking part in the downing of the passenger flight and sentenced them to life in prison in absentia, while a fourth suspect was acquitted.
Highlighting the importance of the verdict, he said: “When Russia compensates for all the damage caused by Russian aggression, it will be a very solid foundation for a lasting peace.”
Russian nationals Sergey Dubinskiy and Igor Girkin, as well as a Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko, were found guilty of causing the crash that killed 298 civilians. Another Russian, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted of all charges.
The court called the proven charges “so severe that it holds that only the highest possible prison sentence would be appropriate.”
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down above eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 passengers on board were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.
The Hague confirmed the flight was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from the Pervomaisk area in the Kharkiv region.
Ruling that the crash of the MH17 plane was connected to a non-international armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, the court said Russia had overall control of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine when the attack occurred.
At the time of the attack, Girkin, a former Russian intelligence official, was defense minister and commander of the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Kharchenko was the commander of a pro-Russia separatist combat unit and took orders directly from Dubinskiy, according to the prosecutors.
Source: Anadolu Agency