A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced three men to life in absentia for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, amid rising tensions over the Russian invasion.

"The court imposes a life sentence" on Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, convicted of murder and having played a role in the destruction of the plane, said the presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis.

In the process, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday welcomed the "important decision" of the Dutch court.

An important decision by the court in The Hague,” Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted.

Punishment for all Russian atrocities - both yesterday and today - will be inevitable.

»

World

MH17 crash: Plane wreckage inspected by Dutch judges as part of trial

World

Flight MH17 crash: Time for the verdict for the four suspects, three Russians and a Ukrainian

  • Russia

  • World

  • malaysia airlines

  • MH17