Investigators find ‘strong indications’ Vladimir Putin approved supply of MH17 missile

Investigators looking into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 have said there are “strong indications” Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the supply of the missile that shot down the aircraft.

“There are strong indications that the Russian President decided on supplying the Buk TELAR to the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) separatists,” the joint investigation team from six countries said on Wednesday.

In November, a Dutch court found three men guilty of 298 counts of murder in the downing of the flight and ordered them to pay more than €16 million ($16.5 million) in compensation.

Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko were found guilty of murder and intentionally causing an aircraft to crash, head judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

Russian citizen Oleg Pulatov, who was the only defendant represented by lawyers, was found not guilty. None of the men attended the two-and-a-half-year trial.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed when the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit.

The plane’s shooting scattered wreckage and bodies across Ukraine’s famed sunflower fields and rural settlements.

The victims came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians.

The crash caused global outrage and sanctions were imposed on Moscow.

This is a developing story.