NIEUWEGEIN, Netherlands — Dutch-led criminal investigators said Wednesday they have solid evidence that a Malaysian jet was shot down by a Buk missile moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia.

Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Central Crime Investigation department of the Dutch National Police, said communications intercepts showed that pro-Moscow rebels had called for deployment of the mobile surface-to-air weapon, and reported its arrival in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.

From that and other evidence collected by the Joint Investigation Team, “it may be concluded MH17 was shot down by a 9M38 missile launched by a Buk, brought in from the territory of the Russian Federation, and that after launch was subsequently returned to the Russian Federation,” Paulissen told a news conference.

The conclusions were billed as results of a two-year Dutch-led criminal probe of the disaster that claimed 298 lives.

A separate investigation by Dutch safety officials last year concluded that the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight was downed by a Buk missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said the joint investigation findings differ in that they are designed to be solid enough to be used as evidence in a criminal trial. Where and when a trial might take place is still to be determined, Aling said.

Russia has consistently denied allegations that pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible. On Monday, the Russian military said it has new radio-location data that show the missile that downed the Boeing 777 did not originate from rebel-controlled territory, and said it would turn the data over to investigators.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that assertion on Wednesday ahead of the Dutch report.

“If there was a rocket it could only have been launched from a different area,” he told reporters, referring to Russian radar data. “You can’t argue with it, it can’t be discussed.”

In the Joint Investigation Team, Dutch police and judicial officials have been working with counterparts from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, seeking to gather the best possible evidence for use in prosecution of the perpetrators.

They have faced extraordinary challenges: the crime scene in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk oblast where the plane crashed on July 17, 2014, killing all aboard, was located in an active war zone, and during the days following the crash pro-Kremlin militants limited access to the site.

Eleven containers crammed with debris from the jetliner were ultimately brought to the Netherlands. A research team took soil samples in eastern Ukraine and established the location of cellphone towers and the layout of the local telephone network.

Forensic samples were taken from passengers’ and crew members’ bodies and luggage, and satellite data and communications intercepts were scrutinized. The team also appealed for information from witnesses who may have seen the missile launch.

About two-thirds of the passengers aboard MH17 were Dutch nationals; the crew members were Malaysians. Malaysia proposed setting up an international tribunal to try those responsible for the plane’s destruction, but Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution in favour of a tribunal. </s> NIEUWEGEIN, THE NETHERLANDS: Three Russians and a Ukrainian will face murder charges for the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in which 298 people were killed.

The trial will start in the Netherlands next March, an investigation team said yesterday.

The suspects are likely to be tried in absentia, however, as the Netherlands has said Russia has not cooperated with the investigation and is not expected to hand anyone over.

The Dutch-led international team tasked with assigning criminal responsibility for the plane's destruction named the four suspects as Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. It said international arrest warrants for the four have been issued.

MH17 was shot out of the sky on July 17, 2014, over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine as it was flying from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Everyone on board was killed.

The joint investigation team formed by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine found that the plane was shot down by a Russian missile. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was not to blame.

The Netherlands and Australia have said they hold Russia legally responsible.

Asked if she expected the suspects to attend the trial, Ms Silene Fredriksz, whose son Bryce was on the plane with his girlfriend Daisy, said: "No. No, I don't think so. But I don't care. I just want the truth, and this is the truth." </s> The Netherlands and Australia are holding Russia "accountable" for the 2014 downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, Dutch officials said Friday, in a move likely to lead to legal action.

The two countries "hold Russia responsible for its part in the downing" of the Malaysia Airlines flight, the Dutch government said in a statement.

The two countries may now move towards submitting the complex dossier to an international judge or organisation, it added.

The move came a day after investigators concluded that the Russian-made BUK missile which smashed into the plane in mid-air on July 17, 2014 came from a Russian military brigade in Kursk.

All 298 people on board the flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed. Most were Dutch, but there were 17 nationalities including Australian on board.

"The downing of flight MH17 caused unimaginable suffering," said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok a day after the latest findings from the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the disaster.

"On the basis of the JIT's conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are now convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17," he added.

"The government is now taking the next step by formally holding Russia accountable."

The government said state liability was invoked in cases where nations violate international law, but warned it was a "complex legal process and there are several ways to do this."

"This is the legal avenue that the Netherlands and Australia have now chosen to pursue," the statement added.

Moscow has rejected Thursday's accusations, saying no such weapon had ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border.

The Russian foreign ministry denounced what it called an attempt to "discredit Russia in the eyes of the international community".

But investigators, who painstaking recreated the BUK missile system's route from Kursk across the border into rebel-held eastern Ukraine, said they stood by their findings.

The Joint Investigation Team "has come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia," top Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen said.

"The 53rd Brigade forms part of the Russian armed forces," he told reporters Thursday.

Investigation officials have not yet said who actually fired the missile after it arrived in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, stressing that the investigation continues. </s> The Netherlands and Australia Friday accused Moscow of being behind the 2014 shooting down of flight MH17 over war-torn eastern Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives, in a move which may trigger legal action. The move came a day after international investigators concluded that the Russian-made BUK missile which smashed into the Boeing 777 in mid-air on July 17, 2014 came from a Russian military brigade in Kursk.

The two countries “hold Russia responsible for its part in the downing” of the Malaysia Airlines flight, the Dutch government said in a statement on Friday.

They may now move towards submitting the complex dossier to an international judge or organisation, it added.

All 298 people on board the flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed when the missile slammed into the plane as it flew over territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Most of the dead were Dutch, but there were 17 nationalities including Australians on board.

“The downing of flight MH17 caused unimaginable suffering,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok a day after the latest findings from the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

“On the basis of the JIT’s conclusions, the Netherlands and Australia are now convinced that Russia is responsible for the deployment of the BUK installation that was used to down MH17,” he added.

“The government is now taking the next step by formally holding Russia accountable.”

State liability was invoked in cases where nations violate international law, the government said, warning it was a “complex legal process”.

“This is the legal avenue that the Netherlands and Australia have now chosen to pursue,” the statement added.

Moscow has vehemently rejected Thursday’s accusations, saying no such weapon ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border. It has long placed the blame for the disaster on Kiev.

The Russian foreign ministry denounced what it called an attempt to “discredit Russia in the eyes of the international community”.

But investigators, who painstaking recreated the BUK missile system’s route from Kursk across the border into rebel-held eastern Ukraine using videos and photos, stood by their findings.

The team “has come to the conclusion that the BUK-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia,” top Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen said.

“The 53rd Brigade forms part of the Russian armed forces,” he told reporters Thursday. </s> NIEUWEGEIN, Netherlands -- A relative of a victim of the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine says he and other family members have been told that a Dutch-led investigation has found proof that a mobile Buk missile launcher had been moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia at the time.

Hans de Borst, whose 17-year-old daughter perished in the shootdown, said he and other family members were briefed privately Wednesday morning before a news conference scheduled to announce the preliminary results of a Dutch-led investigation into the causes of the disaster.

He says the investigators said they had proof, including communications intercepts and radar data, that a mobile Buk missile launcher had been moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia. He says investigators said the launcher was moved back into Russia after the Boeing 777 was downed.

A separate investigation by Dutch safety officials last year found the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight was downed by a Buk missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said the investigation findings to be announced Wednesday differ in that they are designed to be solid enough to be used as evidence in a criminal trial. Where and when a trial might take place is still to be determined, Aling said.

Russia has consistently denied allegations that pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible.

On Monday, the Russian military said it has new radiolocation data that show the missile that downed the Boeing 777 did not originate from rebel-controlled territory, and said it would turn the data over to investigators. </s> BUNNIK, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors identified a Russian military unit on Thursday as the source of the missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 296 people on board.

The airliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit by a Russian-made “Buk” anti-aircraft missile on July 17, 2014 over territory held by pro-Russian separatists. There were no survivors. Two thirds of those killed were Dutch.

“The Buk that was used came from the Russian army, the 53rd brigade,” Chief Dutch Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke told Reuters. “We know that was used, but the people in charge of this Buk, we don’t know.”

Investigators appealed to the public to come forward and help identify members of the crew who operated the missile and determine how high up the chain of command the order originated.

“The Russian Federation didn’t help us in providing us the information we brought out into the open today,” Westerbeke said. “They didn’t give us this information, although a Buk from their military forces was used.”

Russia repeated on Thursday that it had nothing to do with the incident.

“Not a single air defence missile launcher of the Russian Armed Forces has ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border,” Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the Defence Ministry as saying in a statement.

Prosecutors showed photos and videos of a truck convoy carrying the system as it crossed the border from Russia to Ukraine. It crossed back several days later with one missile missing. The vehicles had serial numbers and other markings that were unique to the 53rd brigade, an anti-aircraft unit based in the western Russian city of Kursk, they said.

In the interim update on their investigation, prosecutors said they had trimmed their list of possible suspects from more than a hundred to several dozen.

Westerbeke said investigators were not yet ready to identify individual suspects publicly or to issue indictments, but that when they do he expects cooperation, or a firm international political response.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte cut short a trip to India to return in time for a cabinet meeting on Friday to discuss the latest findings in the inquiry.

The MH17 Disaster Foundation representing families of the victims demanded that the Dutch government take legal action to hold the Russian state accountable.

“It must go beyond legal exploration after this,” board member Piet Ploeg was quoted by the NOS broadcaster as saying.

A Joint Investigation Team, drawn from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, is gathering evidence for a criminal prosecution in the downing of the plane.

Ukrainian Army General Vasyl Hrytsak, a member of the investigation team, told Reuters the next crucial step would be to pinpoint who issued the orders to move the missile system.

The Dutch Safety Board concluded in an October 2015 report that the Boeing 777 was struck by a Russian-made Buk missile. </s> Relatives of victims of the shooting-down of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner over Ukraine more than two years ago were gathering Wednesday to learn the preliminary results of a Dutch-led criminal probe of the disaster that claimed 298 lives.

The team that is conducting the largest investigation in Dutch history is scheduled to brief victims' families behind closed doors Wednesday morning. Investigators will hold a news conference later in the day to make their findings public.

Thomas Schansman, father of the only U.S. citizen killed in the July 2014 disaster, said he expects investigators to identify which specific weapon they believe destroyed flight MH17, and where it was fired from. He said family members do not expect investigators at this stage to name the people they believe were responsible.

A separate investigation by Dutch safety officials last year found the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight was downed by a Buk missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said the investigation findings to be announced Wednesday differ in that they are designed to be solid enough to be used as evidence in a criminal trial. Where and when a trial might take place is still to be determined, Aling said.

Russia has consistently denied allegations that pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible. On Monday, the Russian military said it has new radiolocation data that show the missile that downed the Boeing 777 did not originate from rebel-controlled territory, and said it would turn the data over to investigators. </s> In a significant step towards laying the blame for the shooting-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 at the door of the Russian state, international investigators say the Buk missile that destroyed the jet in July 2014 was supplied by a Russian military unit.

An interim report by the investigators, published in the Netherlands, traced the missile to Russia’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade, based in the western city of Kursk, and added that “all the vehicles in the convoy carrying the missile were part of the Russian armed forces”.

Wilbert Paulissen, head of the Dutch national crime squad, said this was based on “convincing legal evidence that will stand up in a courtroom”, though he said there was “still work to be done” before charges could be levelled against those responsible.

This is the first time the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) – made up of crime experts from Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine, Belgium and the Netherlands – has come close to suggesting Russian complicity in downing the airliner, even to the extent of providing the missile system.

Even so, Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke remained wary of going further than the evidence warranted, acknowledging only that it prompted new questions, “such as how actively involved the brigade itself was in bringing down Flight MH17”.

However, there’s no doubt that the report poses real political problems for the countries most affected by the disaster – in which 298 passengers and crew died, including 80 children and three infants – not least in terms of how they deal with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Those concerns are best illustrated by the fact that shortly after the contents became public, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte announced he was cutting short a trade visit to India in order to return to The Hague for a cabinet meeting on Friday.

As expected, the JIT analysis confirmed the findings of a report by the Dutch Safety Board in October 2015, which concluded that Flight MH17 had been shot down using a Russian-made Buk 332 missile system fired by pro-Russian separatists from territory they controlled in eastern Ukraine.

It goes somewhat further in that it identifies the suppliers of the Buk missile and missile launcher as a specific Russian military unit, and says that particular unit had control of both before the missile was fired from a farm near the village of Pervomaisk, in eastern Ukraine.

However, it’s significant too that the JIT is still calling on members of the 53rd anti-aircraft brigade or their relatives, or anyone with information, to come forward.

“Who formed part of the Buk crew?” asked Mr Paulissen. “What were their instructions? Who was responsible for its operational deployment on July 17th, 2014? We are convinced that many people have this information.”

The Russian defence ministry, in a statement carried by state media, rejected the JIT report, saying it had “brought the relevant evidence to the Dutch investigation team”.

It said that from the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe, and subsequently, it had categorically denied “the insinuations of the Ukrainian side about the involvement of Russian servicemen”.

And it added that, contrary to the evidence presented by the JIT, “not a single anti-aircraft missile system from Russia has ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border”.

Even if Thursday’s report does ultimately lead to criminal charges against named suspects, those suspects are expected to be tried in absentia in the Netherlands.

That is both because Russia used its veto last year to block a UN Security Council resolution calling for a special international tribunal, and because it is inconceivable that Moscow would agree to extradite anyone charged. </s> The suspects are likely to be tried in absentia, however, as the Netherlands has said Russia has not cooperated with the investigation and is not expected to hand anyone over.

Three Russians and a Ukrainian will face murder charges for the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in which 298 people were killed, in a trial to start in the Netherlands next March, an investigation team said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian rescue servicemen look through the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 20, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine.

The Dutch-led international team tasked with assigning criminal responsibility for the plane's destruction named the four suspects as Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

It said international arrest warrants for the four have been issued. MH17 was shot out of the sky on July 17, 2014, over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine as it was flying from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Everyone on board was killed.

Most of those on board were Dutch. The joint investigation team formed by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine found that the plane was shot down by a Russian missile.

Last year Russian President Vladimir Putin called MH17's downing a "terrible tragedy" but said that Moscow was not to blame and that there are other explanations for what happened.

The governments of the Netherlands and Australia have said they hold Russia legally responsible.

Asked if she expected the suspects to attend the trial, Silene Fredriksz, whose son Bryce was on the plane with his girlfriend Daisy, said: "No. No, I don't think so. But I don't care. I just want the truth, and this is the truth."

Moscow has said it does not trust the investigation.

"Russia was unable to take part in the investigation despite expressing an interest right from the start and trying to join it", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier on Wednesday.
A Dutch official from the international Joint Investigation Team tells reporters the Russian Armed Forces were responsible for the shootdown. The Russian Defence Ministry denies its units were involved.