The men, three Russians and one Ukrainian, are not present in the courtroom at the Dutch airport Schiphol.
Nor has it appeared at any time during the two-and-a-half-year-long trial proceedings.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with flight number MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17 July 2014 when it was hit by a Buk-type robot fired from Ukrainian territory.
The detonation occurred just above the plane to the left of the cockpit - causing the plane to break up in the air.
The court has determined that the robot was Russian-made.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded that they will "investigate" the court's task, writes Reuters.
All 298 on board died in the crash, most of them Dutch nationals.
The text is updated.