Global Courant
SYDNEY – Australia has imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on three men involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over Ukraine in 2014, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday.
MH17 was shot down by a Russian BUK missile system as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch nationals and 38 Australian nationals or residents.
In November, a Dutch court convicted two former Russian intelligence agents and a Ukrainian separatist leader in absentia of murder for their role in the incident, and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Ms Wong said the sanctions announced on Saturday target Sergey Dubinskiy and Leonid Kharchenko, two of those sentenced by the Dutch court in 2022.
The third man targeted was Sergey Muchkaev, a colonel in the Russian Armed Forces who commanded the brigade that provided the missile system responsible for downing the plane, Ms Wong added.
She said Australia had already sanctioned another man convicted of downing the plane, Igor Girkin, for his involvement in supporting separatism in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
“These sanctions demonstrate the Australian Government’s continued commitment to holding accountable those responsible for the downing of flight MH17,” Ms Wong said in a statement.
“Australia is steadfast in our commitment to seeking truth, justice and accountability for the victims of the downing of flight MH17.”
In February, Australia acknowledged a decision by international prosecutors to suspend their investigation into MH17 after finding “strong evidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the use of the missile system that shot down the plane.
However, prosecutors said evidence of the involvement of Putin and other Russian officials was not convincing enough to lead to a criminal conviction. REUTERS
