Australia imposes sanctions on three men for the downing of flight MH17

SYDNEY, June 24 (Reuters) – 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 while flying over eastern Ukraine from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch nationals and 38 Australian citizens 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 in prison.

Wong said the sanctions announced Saturday targeted Sergey Dubinskiy and Leonid Kharchenko, two of those convicted by the Dutch court last year.

The third man attacked was Sergey Muchkaev, a colonel in the Russian Armed Forces who commanded the brigade that supplied the missile system responsible for the downing of the plane, Wong said.

He said Australia had already sanctioned another man convicted of the downing of the plane, Igor Girkin, for his role in supporting separatism in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

“These sanctions demonstrate the Australian government’s continued commitment to hold those responsible for the downing of Flight MH17 to account,” Wong said in a statement.

“Australia is steadfast in our commitment to seek truth, justice and accountability for the victims of the downing of Flight MH17.”

In February, australia recognized 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 brought down the plane.

However, prosecutors said the evidence of involvement by Putin and other Russian officials was not conclusive enough to lead to a criminal conviction.

Reporting by Sam McKeith; Edited by William Mallard

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