CNN
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There are “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally endorsed the decision to provide Ukrainian separatists with the missile that shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight. MH17 In 2014, Dutch investigators said Wednesday.
Citing an intercepted telephone conversation by a Russian government official, The Public Prosecutor’s Office Joint Investigative Team There have been “strong signs that the president has taken a decision on the provision of Buk-TELAR to the DPR separatists” in Russia, or the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
Nonetheless, investigators said “the high standard of complete and conclusive evidence has not been met” and that, as head of state, Putin is nonetheless immune from prosecution. The investigative team said it shared its findings with the families of 298 victims.
CNN reached out to the Kremlin for a response. Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility for the attack, and Russian officials and state media have released various, often conflicting accounts of the tragedy.
Flight MH17 was shot from above pro-Russian rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17 July 2014. All 298 people on board died.
Dutch detective already It concluded that the missile that shot down MH17 was a Russian Bukrocket launched from a launcher belonging to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. Dutch courts in November found Two Russians and a separatist Ukrainian have been charged with genocide for their role in shooting down MH17.
In their latest findings, investigators say DPR leaders appeared to be in “close contact” with Kremlin advisers and Russian intelligence services.
“After the separatists demanded longer-range anti-aircraft guns, their demands were discussed at the president’s office in Moscow in late June 2014. It is a state agency that supports the president. A request for an air defense system will be submitted to the defense minister and the president,” investigators told the Dutch court on Wednesday.
Investigators say the separatist request was approved.
“In a recorded phone conversation, Russian government officials say decisions on military aid rest with the president,” the joint investigative team said. “Only one person makes the decisions.” So the decision will be delayed by a week.” […] who is at the top in france The then-President Putin was attending a commemoration of his Dhis Day in France on June 5 and 6, 2014.
“We have specific information that a request from the separatists has been submitted to the president and a positive decision has been made. It is unclear whether the request explicitly refers to the Buk system. A heavy air defense system was delivered, including the Buk that shot down MH17.”
Investigators said there was not enough strong evidence to open new charges.
“At this time, we have not been able to identify who the operator of the Buk-TELAR was, and due to the lack of other specific information on this, why they launched the Buk rockets on MH17, what their mission was. It is not possible to determine what kind of information was held at the time of the shooting.
