Vladimir Putin reportedly approved handing over to separatists the missile that brought down flight MH17 in Ukraine

The Russian President, Vladimir Putinwould have decided to deliver to pro-Russian separatists the missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014but no test to prosecute him or other people, international investigators reported on Wednesday.

The joint international investigation team (JIT) stated that there are “Strong indications” Putin approved missile delivery to pro-Russian separatists during fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

But the investigation was suspended because “all leads were exhausted” about those responsible for the demolition, which caused the death of the 298 people who were on board the device.

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The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, which covered the route between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17, 2014 by a Soviet-made BUK missile as it flew over the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, already largely controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

The JIT announcement comes less than three months after a Dutch courts sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian for the death of the people who were in MH17after being tried in absentia.

“There are strong indications that the Russian president decided to hand over the Buk TELAR to the separatists of the DPR”, declared the JIT in a statement, referring to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.

According to the investigators, the Russian officials even postponed the decision to send weapons to Ukrainian separatists because, in June 2014, Putin was in France for the commemoration of the Normandy landings.

During the press conference they offered in The Hague this Wednesday, they released the intercepted phone call from a counselor who stated that the delay was due to the fact that “there is only one who decides […]who is currently at a summit in France.”

But since Putin has immunity as head of state, it is impossible to prosecute him, the investigators said.

“As much as we talk about strong indications, the bar is not reached [de tener] full and conclusive evidence” about his role in the incident, they added.

“Sold Out Tracks”

The researchers had previously stated that the BUK missile system was transferred from a Russian military base in Kursk and that they were trying to find out who was in the crew and who was in the chain of command.

But “The investigation reached its limitall leads were exhausted, so the investigation was suspended,” Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“The evidence is insufficient for further prosecutions,” he added.

In November, a Dutch court sentenced Russians Igor Guirkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko to life in prison for their role in the downing of the plane in absentia.

Moscow denied any involvement, calling the verdict “shocking.”

The JIT is made up of members from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine, which were the countries most affected by the incident.

The judges in the trial in the Netherlands declared, when announcing the ruling in November, that the missile came from Russia and that the suspects were part of a separatist group controlled by Moscow. But they only helped transfer the missile system to Ukraine and did not fire it. (YO)