Dutch court convicts two Russians, one Ukrainian for MH17 downing, acquits one

Badhoevedorp, Netherlands

Three men have been convicted by a Dutch court on Thursday (November 17) for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. One was acquitted for the incident that killed all 298 people onboard. 

The passenger airliner crashed and burned in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. In the same year, it was a second shock for Malaysian Airlines as on March 8, flight 370 disappeared. 

The flight MH17 crashed with a crew of 15 and 283 passengers, who represented at least 10 nationalities, including 193 Netherlanders. 

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A Dutch inquiry determined that a surface-to-air missile had shot down the aircraft. The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit over separatist-held eastern Ukraine by what investigators say was a missile supplied by Moscow. 

Now, the court found Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko "guilty" of murder and intentionally causing an aircraft to crash. Meanwhile, head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said that Russian Oleg Pulatov was not guilty. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the "important" court ruling. Zelensky wrote on Twitter: "An important court decision in The Hague. The first sentences for the perpetrators of the downing of MH17. Holding the instigators to account is crucial too because a sense of impunity leads to new crimes." 

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