MH17 crash investigators say four suspects face murder charges - CNN

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said it would issue national and international arrest warrants Wednesday for the four suspects. Three Russians, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov, were named, along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

According to investigators, Girkin is a former colonel of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Dubinskiy was employed by Russia's military intelligence agency GRU and Pulatov was a former soldier of the Russian special forces, Spetsnaz-GRU.

Ukraine's Kharchenko had no military background, but is believed to have led a combat unit in Donetsk in July 2014.

Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 sits in a field at the plane crash site in Hrabove, Ukraine.

Investigators said they would not ask for the suspects to be extradited because the Russian and Ukrainian constitutions prohibit extraditing nationals.

They added that they would ask Russia to cooperate with the investigation, and both countries to question the suspects about the charges.

All four suspects are charged with "causing the crash of MH17, leading to the death of all the people on board ... and murdering 298 passengers of flight MH17," Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke announced.

Girkin, who acted as defense minister for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said separatists in eastern Ukraine were not responsible for downing the Boeing aircraft, adding that investigators had not contacted him about the case.

"The [separatist] rebels did not down the Boeing, and I cannot comment further or clarify," he told Russia's Business FM radio.

Asked if the JIT had contacted him, Girkin said, "No, they have not contacted me."

Flight MH17 was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian separatists as it flew from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in July 2014. The 298 who died came from 17 countries.

According to Westerbeke, the suspects are not accused of firing the missile, but are "just as punishable as the person who committed the crime," Westerbeke said.

He added that they are suspected of obtaining the Buk missile "with the goal to shoot a plane."

Their trial will take place on March 9, 2020 at the Schiphol Judicial Complex in Badhoevedorp, investigators said, adding that the accused will be tried in absentia if necessary.

Flowers, soft toys along with pictures are left among the wreckage at the site of the crash of a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

According to the JIT -- which is made up of five countries: Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine -- MH17 was downed by a Buk.

Investigators announced in 2018 that the flight had been brought down by a missile fired from a launcher belonging to Russia's 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade. Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the incident, suggesting instead that Ukrainian forces shot down the plane.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was "nothing to discuss," in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, ahead of the news conference.

"You know our attitude to this investigation. Russia had no opportunity to take part in it (the JIT). Though from the very start, from the very first days of this tragedy, Russia showed initiative, was actively trying to become a part of this investigation into this horrific disaster," Peskov added.

CNN's Tomas Etzler, Nathan Hodge and Duarte Mendonca contributed reporting.

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