There are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the transfer of the Russian missile system that downed a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet in eastern Ukraine in 2014, according to a Dutch prosecutor.
Digna van Boetzelaer said Wednesday that intercepted phone calls suggest that Putin personally rubber-stamped the weapons transfer to the Russian-backed separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where MH17 was shot down.
“The investigation has now reached its limit,” van Boetzelaer told a news conference in The Hague. “The findings are insufficient for the prosecution of new suspects,” meaning that Putin and other Russian officials will not be subject to a criminal investigation.
Referring to the ruling, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote on Twitter: “We will not stop. Since 2014 we have become all too familiar with the pattern of obstruction, untruths and injustice from Russia and its president, Putin.” Rutte added that the Dutch state remains committed to “establish the truth and achieve justice and accountability.”
The Boeing 777 was flying from the Dutch capital to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile in July 2014 during a conflict between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
Russia has denied any involvement with the downing of the airliner, although a Dutch court convicted in absentia two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader of murder for their involvement.
In January, a Dutch court ruled that the Netherlands could bring a case before the European Court of Human Rights over the downing of the flight. It argued that Russia was responsible for the crash, due to its support for the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.
