New Delhi, June 19 : Three Russians and a Ukrainian have been charged by International investigators for shooting down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.
The Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT) named the Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko for prosecution. Immense controversies grew over the mysterious crash of the Malaysian flight in 2014. International investigators revealed fresh findings nearly five years after MH17 plane was shot over Ukraine, on Tuesday.
The Boeing 777 was hit by a Russian-made BUK missile while travelling over eastern Ukraine.
The Dutch-led probe had earlier said that it would give a press conference regarding developments in the criminal investigation of the downing of flight MH17.
In March this year, the Netherlands and Australia had announced in a statement accusing Russia of the downing of the Malaysian flight. Russia, however, had denied any involvement in the destruction of the plane.
Here’s What Happened
The Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur bound Boeing 777 MH17 flight took off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport at around 10 AM on July 17, 2014. The plane lost contact with air traffic control only a few hours after takeoff, about 50 km away from Russia-Ukraine border.
The plane exploded and disintegrated mid-air, and crashed in the Donetsk area of Ukraine, controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Parts of the wreckage was discovered spread across an area of 50 sq. km. All 298 passengers, including 80 children and 15 crew members were killed in the flight crash.
