Earlier today, three men who shot down a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014 were convicted guilty of murder by a Dutch court.

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Three men found guilty

In 2014, three men, two Russians, and one Ukrainian shot down a passenger jet with a Russian-made missile. The men were part of an armed group under Russian control. The convicted men claimed that the intention was to shoot down a military aircraft and not a plane full of passengers, but the judge ruled that their actions were to shoot a plane out of the sky deliberately.

MH17, Russia, Court Case
Photo: Getty Images

A fourth man was involved in the violent attack, but he was acquitted**. The three who were found guilty and sentenced to jail for life were tried in absentia, meaning they were not present for the trial. The men refused to participate in the trial and are still at large, believed to be in Russia or Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. Whether the men will serve their life sentences depends on whether they are ever caught traveling abroad.

Each of the men was convicted of the following:

  • Igor Girkin - the military leader of the Donetsk People's Republic - convicted of deploying the missile and requesting Russian help
  • Sergei Dubinsky - convicted of ordering and overseeing the transport of the missile launcher
  • Leonid Kharchenko - convicted of handling the missile and acting under the orders of Dubinsky
  • **Oleg Pulatov - the only person to have legal representation - acquitted even though he knew about the missile

Ukraine's sitting president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, weighed in on the court's decision.

Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister, said,

“This is yet another step in the pursuit of truth and justice for the victims and their loved ones. And important as this verdict is, it is not the final conclusion … It is not the end. All parties will have the right to appeal, so the judgment is not yet final. But to reiterate, an important step has been taken today.”

What happened to MH17?

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 took off from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on July 17, 2014. Onboard were 298 people, including 15 crew and 80 children. As the aircraft cruised over Ukraine at 33,000 feet, it lost contact with air traffic control. At the time, tensions were beginning to rise between Russia and Ukraine as Russia attempted to control Ukraine. Because warfare had recently gone airborne, Ukraine had closed airspace below 32,000 feet.

MH17
Photo: Getty Images

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam at 10:31 GMT on July 17 and at 13:20 GMT lost contact with air traffic control. According to an international investigation, a missile exploded just above and to the left of the cockpit, leading to the plane breaking up in midair and killing everyone.