Reply To: Russian Tensions
TS – “Actually, the allegation is that eastern-Ukrainians shot down the plane in their battle with Nazi coup regime forces.”
MH17 – A criminal investigation and a legal process have been completed.
A Dutch court in November after a 32-month trial found Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy and a Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko, guilty in absentia of bringing down the plane and the murder of everyone onboard.
Prosecutors concluded that the four men did not “press the button themselves” but were responsible for taking the BUK from Russia and deploying it on the battlefield.
Girkin, aka Igor Strelkov, was a commander of the separatist-backed forces in 2014. Dubinskiy is a former military officer of the GRU and held a senior role in the Donetsk separatist forces. Kharchenko was a commander of a combat unit in Donetsk and took his orders from Dubinskiy.
A third Russian national, Oleg Pulatov, a former officer in the Russian Spetsnaz, was acquitted of the charges due to a lack of evidence about his role in the firing of the missile.
Case closed.