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The photo is illustrative.
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Relatives of victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in Ukraine have accused Russia today of lying about its alleged role in the downing of the plane, Reuters reported. Relatives of the dead have begun to testify in the case before the court in the Netherlands for premeditated murder against four defendants, informs BTA.
International investigators have concluded that the passenger plane was shot down by a rocket fired by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. Russia denies any responsibility. “They are lying, we know they are lying, and they know we know they are lying,” Ria van der Sten, who lost her father and stepmother in the crash, told the court.
Van der Sten said she quoted the late Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. She made the statement in Russian, explaining that she did so because of those who listen “on behalf of the Russian regime today.”
“I want it to be known that I know who is responsible,” Van der Sten said. She was the first of dozens of relatives to have the opportunity to speak in court or make written statements in the next three weeks.
Three Russians and a Ukrainian are accused in the case of the downing of a plane traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The crash in July 2014 killed all 298 people on board.
Russia, which says it does not fund or support the rebels in eastern Ukraine, has refused to extradite the defendants. They are hiding and only one of them is represented by lawyers in court.
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