Two hundred and ninety eight people died on 17 July 2014 when the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit by a Russian surface-to-air Buk missile, fired from an area of eastern Ukraine seized by Russian proxy forces.

Two Russians and a Ukrainian national were convicted of murder in absentia by a Dutch court in 2022.

Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko all face life sentences but the three remain at large because Russia refused to surrender them to face justice.

The Buk missile system belonged to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based in Kursk, and the three men were all found guilty of transporting the missile into Ukraine.

The Kremlin has always denied any responsibility for the air disaster, which has left an indelible mark on the collective memory of the Dutch nation.

Of the 298 victims, 196 were Dutch but there were victims from many other countries including 43 from Malaysia, 38 from Australia and 10 from the UK.

Eighty children were among the dead.