A court in the Netherlands on Thursday sentenced Igor Girkin, a former commander of pro-Russian separatists in Donbas, to life in prison for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, Reuters reported.

Passenger plane MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all passengers and crew in the tragedy, which occurred amid fighting between pro-Russian separatist forces in Luhansk and Donetsk and Kyiv’s armed forces.

Along with Khyrkin in this trial, organized in the Netherlands, were Russians Serhiy Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, former secret service officers, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, a leader of pro-Russian separatists who is believed to have led their military unit. also accused that he had no experience in this.

During the reading of the verdict, judge Hendrik Steenheis emphasized that they do not enjoy immunity, since at that time none of them were servicemen of the Russian armed forces.

Steenheis said the court concluded that flight MH17 was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile system, and the defendants were accused of arranging for the plane to fall into the hands of separatists and arranging its transport.

None of them were charged with personal involvement in the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, and all were tried in absentia.

Girkin and two other defendants were found guilty of shooting down MH17

The victims came from 17 countries, including 198 Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysians, 38 Australians and 10 British passengers. 80 of the dead were children.

The investigation into the tragedy was conducted by the Netherlands with the participation of Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia and Belgium.

A Dutch court on Thursday found Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko guilty of shooting down the plane, but acquitted Pulatov, a former special forces/GRU operative.

The court sentenced Girkin and the other two defendants to life imprisonment. Last December, the Dutch prosecutor’s office demanded the maximum sentence for them.

“Only the harshest sentence is appropriate for the actions of these suspects, who have caused so much suffering to many victims and many living relatives,” Judge Steenheis emphasized.

Russia denied any involvement in the downing of the plane, then it also denied any involvement in Ukraine and claimed that the separatist war in the east of the country was started by “Russian patriots” after the annexation of Crimea.

Who is Igor Girkin?

Girkin, nicknamed “Strelkov” (Russian for “Strilok”), was one of the main commanders of the pro-Russian separatists at the beginning of the war with the Ukrainian army in Donbas, after the annexation of Crimea, and probably their most publicized commander at the time.

Before commanding separatist forces in Donbas, Girkin played an important role in planning the annexation of Crimea and the organization of Russia’s infamous “men in green” as an officer in the FSB, Moscow’s main intelligence service.

Girkin was accused of terrorism in Ukraine and was sanctioned by the European Union for his role in this activity.

After the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24, he distinguished himself by sharply criticizing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and analyzing the events at the front.

In October, Girkin told Russian media that he was on the front line in Ukraine after rumors began to circulate on social media, where hundreds of thousands of Russians follow him.

It is unlikely that he or the other two convicts will ever serve their sentences. It is believed that Dubinsky and Khartsenko are in Russia, which will not extradite them to the Dutch state.

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