• Putin chose to provide the missile that brought down flight MH17 in 2014.
• There is no evidence that Mr. Putin gave the order to shoot the plane down.
• Russia disputes any responsibility for the plane’s downing.

International investigators claim there are compelling signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to provide the missile that brought down flight MH17 in 2014.

Nearly 300 people were killed when a Russian-made missile struck the airliner over Ukraine.

According to the prosecution, there is proof that Mr. Putin decided to give Moscow-backed separatists heavy weapons.

There is no evidence that Mr. Putin gave the order to shoot the plane down.

Russia disputes any responsibility for the plane’s downing.

On Wednesday, the prosecutors declared that they had followed every lead and were no longer able to pursue any new criminal cases.

During a confrontation between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region of Ukraine in July 2014, a Russian-made surface-to-air missile struck a Boeing 777 while it was travelling from the Dutch capital to Kuala Lumpur.

196 of the 298 passengers and crew were Dutch, with the majority of the remaining passengers hailing from Malaysia, Australia, the UK, Belgium, and other nations.

The court determined that Moscow had “total control” over the Donetsk People’s Republic, which was in charge of the region in July 2014, according to a statement from the Joint Investigation Team.

The choice to offer military support “rests with the President,” Russian officials claimed in the transcripts of their telephone talks.

“There is concrete information that the separatists’ request was presented to the president, and that this request was granted,” it said.

But it adds that is not known whether the request “explicitly mentions” the system used to shoot down MH17.

“Although we speak of strong indications, the high bar of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached,” investigators said.

“Furthermore, the President enjoys immunity in his position as Head of State.”

The countries most severely impacted by the shooting down of MH17 include the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, and Ukraine, which are represented on the Joint Investigation Team.

The team acknowledged that it was currently not possible to establish the identity of the missile’s crew members and those in the chain of command.

Three men, two Russians and a Ukrainian, were found guilty of murder in absentia last year by a Dutch court for their involvement in the downing of MH17.

These judgements were disregarded by Moscow as “scandalous” and politically driven.

Piet Ploeg perished on MH17 together with his brother, brother’s wife, and nephew. He expressed his gratitude to the prosecutors for outlining their proof of Mr. Putin’s involvement.

“We can’t do a lot with it, Putin can’t be prosecuted,” he told Reuters. “We wanted to know who was ultimately responsible and that’s clear.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it was a “bitter disappointment” that there was not enough evidence to warrant further prosecutions.

But he added the international team’s announcement did not mean the criminal justice process was over.

“Since 2014, we have become all too familiar with the pattern of obstruction, untruths and injustice from Russia and its president, Putin. We will continue to call the Russian Federation to account for its role in this tragedy,” Mr. Rutte said.

The European Court of Human Rights announced in January that it would hear a separate Dutch complaint against Russia for shooting down MH17.

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