A five-nation joint investigation team (JIT) has moved to the final stage of the probe into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014 over Ukraine, a senior prosecutor said Tuesday.
Currently, the JIT is preparing to hand over all the materials gathered during the investigation to a Dutch court, Dmytro Storozhuk, the first deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine, told the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency.
The MH17 crashed in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died, including 196 Dutch nationals.
In October 2015, the Dutch Safety Board said the crash was caused by the detonation of a Buk missile that exploded right next to the cockpit.
In May 2018, the JIT formed by investigators from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine said the Buk missile came from the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Russian army in Kursk.
The Russian Defense Ministry refuted the accusation, saying that no new anti-aircraft missiles crossed the border to Ukraine since 1991 when the former Soviet Union collapsed.
