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MH17: Prosecutors point finger of blame at Russia

Russia blamed for MH17 tragedy
Russia blamed for MH17 tragedy
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By Reuters
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Prosecutors investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 say the missile used to shoot down the plane came from a Russian military unit.

Prosecutors investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine say the missile used to shoot down the plane came from a Russian military unit.

The passenger jet was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down on July 17, 2014.

All 298 people on board - two thirds of them Dutch - were killed. Most of the others were Australians and Malaysians.

Jennifer Hurst, of the Australian Federal Police, said: "All findings from this forensic investigation confirm the earlier conclusion of the JIT (Joint Investigation Team) that Flight MH17 was shot down by a 9M38-series Buk missile."

Dutch investigators said the missile had been fired from a carrier belonging to Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade.

Russia has denied involvement in the incident.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is cutting short a visit to India to discuss the development.

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.

Suspects are likely to be tried in absentia in the Netherlands after Russia used its veto to block a UN Security Council resolution seeking to create an international tribunal to oversee criminal complaints stemming from the incident.

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