MOSCOW, July 5 (RAPSI) – Suspects in the case over MH17 Boeing crash in the Donetsk Region in 2014 should be prosecuted in the Netherlands, according to the official statement of the Dutch minister of foreign affairs Bert Koenders released on Wednesday.

The countries comprising the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, have backed up this decision, the statement published on the Dutch government’s website reads.

The JIT countries have decided “that the suspects should be prosecuted in the Netherlands, a process that will be rooted in ongoing international cooperation and support. This means that the team’s cooperation will continue into the prosecution phase,” Bert Koenders said.

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in the Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. All people on board, 298 citizens of 17 countries including 193 Dutch nationals, died.

On July 21, 2014, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted an Australia-led resolution calling for an international investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy and full and unrestricted access of experts to the site.

In late September 2016, the JIT published preliminary results of the investigation. According to the report, the airplane was hit by a land-to-air missile fired from the territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Russia has repeatedly pointed out the inaccuracies in the investigation led by the Netherlands and deficiency of information, in particular, the JIT’s refusal to take into account information provided by Russian experts.