Dutch court finds Russian missile struck down 2014 Malaysia Airlines flight, killing 298 aboard

A Dutch court on Thursday found that a Russian missile was responsible for the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down in 2014 over eastern Ukraine that killed nearly 300 people. 

“The court is of the opinion that MH17 was brought down by the firing of a BUK missile from a farm field near Pervomaisk, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members,” presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said according to Reuters. 

The news that a flight traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, was shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine immediately captured the world’s attention as tension in eastern in southern Ukraine remained high following Russia’s invasion and subsequent seizure of Crimea earlier that year. 

Dutch judges are set to pass a verdict Thursday on three Russians and one Ukrainian suspected of firing the missile from an agricultural field in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. 

Steenhuis said also that the court believed Moscow had control of the separatist region at the time of attack.

The judge said he would later rule on the guilt or innocence of the four individuals involved in the missile strike as well as other legal issues.