eastern Ukraine
Boeing MH17 shot down: Putin apparently approved delivery of missiles to separatists
Russian President Valdimir Putin’s phone calls were overheard by international investigators
© Mikhail Klimentyev / Pool Sputnik Kremlin / AP / DPA
Telephone calls from senior Russian officials were intercepted. It came out that Putin is said to have been involved in the downing of the MH17 passenger plane. However, he does not have to fear criminal prosecution.
According to international investigators, Russian President Vladimir Putin played an active role in the shooting down of the MH17 passenger plane over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. This emerges from wiretapped telephone calls, as the investigative team announced on Wednesday in The Hague.
There are “strong indications” that the decision came from President Putin. However, investigators said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. In addition, Putin enjoys immunity through his office and cannot be prosecuted.
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down over a contested area in July 2014 by a Russian BUK anti-aircraft missile. Russia has always denied any involvement in the Boeing downing.
Defense system relocated with Putin’s approval
The rocket came from a Russian military base in Kursk. It was fired from a field in an area in eastern Ukraine controlled by the self-proclaimed pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic, according to a Dutch court.
Putin agreed to relocate the BUK air defense system. “There are strong indications that the Russian President decided to deliver the BUK missile to the separatists,” said investigators in The Hague. At that time, the separatists in eastern Ukraine had submitted an application for equipment, which the Kremlin chief had approved, reports the Reuters news agency.
Investigators base their conclusion that Putin was allegedly personally responsible for the delivery of the missile on, among other things, a tapped telephone conversation of a Russian government adviser.
It was therefore about delayed arms deliveries to the pro-Russian separatists. At the time, Putin was in France. The delay is because “there is only one person who makes a decision (…), the person who is at a summit in France,” says a passage of the phone call that the investigators played.
Russians and Ukrainians accused
However, the evidence was not sufficient for “further charges”, according to the investigators. Therefore, the investigation would be temporarily suspended. “We have reached our limits,” said investigators.
Charges were brought against three Russians and one Ukrainian – all of whom held leading positions with the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine at the time. Last year, three of them were found guilty in a trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. A man was acquitted. None of the defendants attended the trial.
All 298 people on board the plane died in the incident. Most of the victims were Dutch, so the trial also took place in the country.