MH17 culprits to be named soon

The culprits behind the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 might be named end of the year or early next year.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told ABC that the list of those believed to be responsible would be confirmed and called for a prosecution of the culprits.

She said those responsible could be brought to an international tribunal, citing the one used to prosecute those behind the bombing of a PanAm flight in 1988.

MH17, with 298 passengers and crew onboard, was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014 when travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

An interim report released by the Joint Investigation Team for MH17 last Wednesday, confirmed the earlier technical report by the Dutch Safety Board that the aircraft was undeniably hit by a surface-to-air 9M38 series BUK missile.

READ: Points from the MH17 investigation

READ: MH17 downed by missile transported from Russia

He said the report also concluded that the exact location of the launch site was an agricultural field near Pervomaiskiy, a city in Kharkiv, Ukraine – an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels at that time.

Russia, which has long denied any involvement in the tragedy, rejected the report, saying conclusions are biased and politically-motivated.