Aircraft flight belonging to Malaysia Airlines, specifically Flight 17, encountered a disastrous incident on July 17, 2014.
In a shocking incident that occurred on July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was tragically shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine. The plane, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, lost contact approximately 50 km (31 mi) from the Ukraine-Russia border and crashed in an area where Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian forces were in conflict.
The Russian news agency Interfax announced that the plane was brought down by a missile while at an altitude of 10,000 meters (33,000 ft) in Ukrainian airspace. The wreckage of the plane fell near the village of Hrabove in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, 40 km (25 mi) from the border.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT), an international group of investigators, determined that the missile was from the 53rd Brigade of the Russian military unit in Koersk. A missile found in a convoy where Russian-made Buk missiles were on their way from Koersk to Ukraine had similarities with the missile on which the plane was shot down.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described the incident as an act of terrorism. The JIT later concluded in September 2016 that the plane was indeed shot down by a missile belonging to the Russian army. In October 2015, the Dutch Flight Safety Authority confirmed that the plane had been hit by a BUK missile.
The JIT requested international arrest for four people in connection with the shooting down of MH17. The suspects, who are former members of the Russian army, are held responsible for the shooting down of MH17 with a BUK missile and the death of 298 people on board, including 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, shares of Malaysia Airlines fell 16% on July 18, 2014. In response, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) announced that the Eastern Ukraine region was closed to civilian flights.
While the Buk missile system's movement and involvement of Russian-backed individuals are confirmed, the identities of four specific named suspects have not been explicitly mentioned in the current search results. Further detailed information from court documents or official investigation reports might be required to obtain the names of those four suspects.
[1] Joint Investigation Team, "JIT press conference on the downing of MH17," YouTube video, 27 Sep. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Z6_lH0W3U. [2] "Igor Bezler: Who is the man behind the MH17 downing?" Ukraine World, 24 July 2018, www.ukraineradio.org/a/29761952.html. [3] "MH17: Dutch prosecutors charge four suspects over downing of plane," The Guardian, 20 June 2019, www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/20/mh17-dutch-prosecutors-charge-four-suspects-over-downing-of-plane. [4] "MH17: Four suspects charged over downing of plane," BBC News, 20 June 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48667394.
- The JIT's investigation revealed that the missile responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014 was from the 53rd Brigade of the Russian military unit in Koersk, implicating the Russian army in the tragedy.
- Following the MH17 tragedy, politics and war-and-conflicts remained prominent in discussions as the JIT later confirmed the plane was shot down by a missile belonging to the Russian army, and international arrest warrants were issued for four former members of the Russian military.
- Crime and justice continued to be at the forefront of general news as the international JIT pressured for further investigations to reveal the identities of the four specific suspects allegedly responsible for the shooting down of MH17 and the subsequent loss of 298 lives.
