Russian President Vladimir Putin Implicated in MH17 Crash: Joint Investigation Team Finds “Strong Indications” of Involvement

An international team of investigators have released a statement on Wednesday, claiming that there are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the supply of heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 with a Russian missile.

The statement was released by the Public Prosecution Service’s Joint Investigation Team, citing intercepted telephone conversations by Russian government officials. The team said there were “strong indications that in Russia, the president made the decision about the provision of the Buk-TELAR to separatists of the DPR,” or the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, in eastern Ukraine.

The Joint Investigation Team also noted that although there are strong indications that Putin was involved in the decision, the “high bar of full and conclusive evidence is not met.” Furthermore, as a head of state, Putin has immunity from prosecution.

The MH17 flight was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board. The majority of the victims were Dutch citizens. In 2016, the Dutch Safety Board concluded that the plane was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile.

The Joint Investigation Team is composed of representatives from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine. The team has been investigating the crash since 2014 and has identified 100 people of interest in the case. The team is expected to release its final report in the coming months.