US Politics | MH17 verdict: Three men sentenced to life for murdering 298 on Malaysia Airlines plane shot down by Russian-made missile
THREE men have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 298 people who died in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine. Russian nationals Igor Girkin, 51, and Sergey Dubinsky, 60, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, 50, were found guilty by a court \- and have been ordered to pay at least £14million in compensation. 
AFPUkrainian rescue workers walk past a piece of wreckage of the plane '/ ' 
AFP - GettyThe crash site near the Grabove village in eastern Ukraine on November 11, 2014 '/ ' 
EPAThree men have been found guilty of murder over the downing of the flight '/ ' A third Russian national, Oleg Pulatov, was cleared of the charges. The convicted men remain on the run \- and they are all believed to be in Russia, which will not extradite them. The three have been sentenced to life in prison \- although they are unlikely to serve time. Prosecutors said Girkin, a former Russian spy who became the so-called defence minister of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic, was in regular contact with Russia. Read more on MH17 
SICK PROMOTION Putin warlord accused of MH17 mass murder made Ukraine war front commander 
NO FLY ZONE Russia deploys 50 warplanes to Black Sea as US warns airlines may be SHOT DOWN Dubinsky, also tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists' military intelligence chief \- and was responsible for giving orders about the missile. Kharchenko, 50, who allegedly led a separatist unit, played a more direct role in transporting the missile, prosecutors said. A court in The Hague said MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014 by a Russian-made missile fired from a field in eastern Ukraine \- and that Russia had overall control of separatist forces at the time. Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said evidence presented at the two-year trial proved the doomed Boeing 777 was brought down by a BUK missile fired by pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels. Most read in The US Sun SHOCK TWIST Debbie Collier death ruled 'suicide' after nude and burned body found in woods DARK WHISPERS Chilling words of rapist in case 'linked to JonBenet Ramsey' murder revealed FOUR-WARNED I am a time traveller from 2671 - here are 4 dates 'big things' will happen BLOOD FEUDS How Russian oligarchs are 'MURDERING each other' in bloody battle for power MISSING HOST-IN Sunny missing from The View as Joy shares reason for co-host's absence SHED THE POUNDS I was world's fattest girl who weighed 420lbs aged 8…now I'm UNRECOGNISABLE The BUK missile had been identified as coming from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk in Russia, the court heard. The verdict comes more than eight years after the jet flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky, killing all 298 passengers and crew members. The mid-air explosion and crash happened during a conflict between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian forces. The horrific crash scattered debris and bodies over farmland and fields of sunflowers. Judges said Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko could all be held responsible for moving the missile from a military base in Russia and deploying it to the launch site \- even if they didn't pull the trigger. The court ruled there was ...ample evidence... to show the plane was brought down by the missile \- and said it was fired from a field in eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by the pro-Moscow Donetsk People's Republic, which was fighting against Kyiv's forces. The court ruled out ...alternative scenarios... suggested by the defence \- including Russia's initial suggestion that a Ukrainian fighter jet could have been responsible. Russia ...still denies to this day... that it controlled the DPR at the time \- meaning the defendants could not claim immunity from prosecution as formal combatants, the judges said. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said: ...It can be said that this is the strongest signal to the whole world, including Russia itself, that every war crime committed by the Russians will be documented, investigated and brought to a conclusion. ...No matter how much time it takes.... The conviction represents the end of a long search for justice for the victims of MH17, who came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians. Piet Ploeg, chairman of the MH17 foundation, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew, said he hoped the verdict could help families move on. He said: ...I don't believe in terms of closure \- ask relatives who lost their children \- you will never find closure for that. ...But I really hope that this day will give families some space to try to get on with their lives.... Read More on The Sun 
SERIAL-SLY? Every iPhone owner urged to check hidden codes in model number Eight years after the crash, the region where MH17 was shot down has become one of the key battlegrounds in Russia's nearly nine-month-old war in Ukraine. And the MH17 trial has emerged a test case for efforts to bring perpetrators to justice over war crimes in Ukraine since 2014.
AFPUkrainian rescue workers walk past a piece of wreckage of the plane '/ ' AFP - GettyThe crash site near the Grabove village in eastern Ukraine on November 11, 2014 '/ ' EPAThree men have been found guilty of murder over the downing of the flight '/ ' A third Russian national, Oleg Pulatov, was cleared of the charges. The convicted men remain on the run \- and they are all believed to be in Russia, which will not extradite them. The three have been sentenced to life in prison \- although they are unlikely to serve time. Prosecutors said Girkin, a former Russian spy who became the so-called defence minister of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic, was in regular contact with Russia. Read more on MH17 SICK PROMOTION Putin warlord accused of MH17 mass murder made Ukraine war front commander NO FLY ZONE Russia deploys 50 warplanes to Black Sea as US warns airlines may be SHOT DOWN Dubinsky, also tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists' military intelligence chief \- and was responsible for giving orders about the missile. Kharchenko, 50, who allegedly led a separatist unit, played a more direct role in transporting the missile, prosecutors said. A court in The Hague said MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014 by a Russian-made missile fired from a field in eastern Ukraine \- and that Russia had overall control of separatist forces at the time. Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said evidence presented at the two-year trial proved the doomed Boeing 777 was brought down by a BUK missile fired by pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels. Most read in The US Sun SHOCK TWIST Debbie Collier death ruled 'suicide' after nude and burned body found in woods DARK WHISPERS Chilling words of rapist in case 'linked to JonBenet Ramsey' murder revealed FOUR-WARNED I am a time traveller from 2671 - here are 4 dates 'big things' will happen BLOOD FEUDS How Russian oligarchs are 'MURDERING each other' in bloody battle for power MISSING HOST-IN Sunny missing from The View as Joy shares reason for co-host's absence SHED THE POUNDS I was world's fattest girl who weighed 420lbs aged 8…now I'm UNRECOGNISABLE The BUK missile had been identified as coming from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk in Russia, the court heard. The verdict comes more than eight years after the jet flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky, killing all 298 passengers and crew members. The mid-air explosion and crash happened during a conflict between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian forces. The horrific crash scattered debris and bodies over farmland and fields of sunflowers. Judges said Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko could all be held responsible for moving the missile from a military base in Russia and deploying it to the launch site \- even if they didn't pull the trigger. The court ruled there was ...ample evidence... to show the plane was brought down by the missile \- and said it was fired from a field in eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by the pro-Moscow Donetsk People's Republic, which was fighting against Kyiv's forces. The court ruled out ...alternative scenarios... suggested by the defence \- including Russia's initial suggestion that a Ukrainian fighter jet could have been responsible. Russia ...still denies to this day... that it controlled the DPR at the time \- meaning the defendants could not claim immunity from prosecution as formal combatants, the judges said. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said: ...It can be said that this is the strongest signal to the whole world, including Russia itself, that every war crime committed by the Russians will be documented, investigated and brought to a conclusion. ...No matter how much time it takes.... The conviction represents the end of a long search for justice for the victims of MH17, who came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians. Piet Ploeg, chairman of the MH17 foundation, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew, said he hoped the verdict could help families move on. He said: ...I don't believe in terms of closure \- ask relatives who lost their children \- you will never find closure for that. ...But I really hope that this day will give families some space to try to get on with their lives.... Read More on The Sun SERIAL-SLY? Every iPhone owner urged to check hidden codes in model number Eight years after the crash, the region where MH17 was shot down has become one of the key battlegrounds in Russia's nearly nine-month-old war in Ukraine. And the MH17 trial has emerged a test case for efforts to bring perpetrators to justice over war crimes in Ukraine since 2014.
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