Russian authorities have assured Thursday that they will «study» the verdict reached by the Netherlands Justice, which has sentenced to life imprisonment three defendants accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
Ivan Nechaev, deputy spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that for the time being Moscow can assure «that it will study the decision.» «Every detail matters and, after analyzing the reports, we will certainly be ready to comment,» he asserted.
However, sources close to the case have explained to the Interfax news agency that it is not foreseen that the two Russian citizens convicted ‘in absentia’, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, will be extradited to the Netherlands.
«The Russian Constitution provides for a direct ban on extradition of Russian citizens to foreign countries. Therefore, neither one nor the other will be sent to Dutch soil,» a Russian law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the court’s decision as «important», noting that it is the first conviction against the «perpetrators of the downing of MH17», he said on his Twitter account.
«Bringing the masterminds to justice is crucial also given that impunity leads to other crimes. This illusion must be put to an end. Punishment for all atrocities committed by Russia before and now is inevitable,» he has stressed.
The court has previously affirmed that Russian defendants Girkin and Dubinsky, as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, are guilty of the murder of 298 people by participating in the supply, deployment and removal of the ‘Buk’ system used to shoot down the aircraft. In addition, he confirmed that the plane was hit by a Russian-made missile that was allegedly launched from a territory located in Pervomaisk, in a Russian-controlled area of eastern Ukraine.
