Netherlands summons Russian ambassador due to Putin's involvement in MH17 downing

The Netherlands has summoned the Russian ambassador and is demanding an explanation in connection with the investigation into the downing of flight MH17.

This was reported by NOS.

"Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said in the House of Representatives that the reason for this was the conclusions of the Joint Investigative Group regarding the role of Russian President Putin," the newspaper writes.

As the mass media note, the D66 party has already offered to expel the Russian ambassador from the country. However, Rutte prefers to keep communication lines open with Moscow. And if the Netherlands sends an ambassador, the Russian Federation will make a similar gesture.

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the cause of the crash of the Boeing MH17 passenger plane in Donbas in 2014 stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the delivery of the Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile complex, which was used to shoot down the airliner.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on November 17, 2022, the court in The Hague announced the verdict in the case of the crash of flight MH17, in which it is said that the plane was shot down by a missile from the Russian Buk-M1 air defense system.

The court also recognized that the Russian Federation controlled the militants of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, from whose territory a rocket was fired at a passenger plane.

As earlier reported, the court found Ihor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergey Dubinsky, and Leonid Kharchenko guilty of the tragedy. It also acquitted the previously accused Oleg Pulatov.