International investigators on Wednesday charged three Russians and a Ukrainian with murder over the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which caused the death of 298 people, five years ago.

The trial of the four men with military and intelligence links will start in the Netherlands in March next year, although they are likely to be tried in absentia as neither Russia nor Ukraine extradites their nationals.

Moscow slammed the "absolutely unfounded accusations" over the downing of the plane, during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by a missile over part of eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian rebels, on July 17, 2014.

The Dutch-led inquiry team said international arrest warrants had been issued for Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, all of whom are suspected of roles in the separatist Donetsk People's Republic.

Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said the four were to be held responsible for bringing the BUK missile system from Russia into eastern Ukraine "even though they have not pushed the button themselves."

"We won't demand their extradition because Russian and Ukrainian law forbids the extradition of their nationals. But we ask Russia once more to cooperate... many of our questions remain unanswered," said Westerbeke at a press conference.

The same investigation team said in May 2018 that the BUK anti-aircraft missile which hit the Boeing 777 had originated from the 53rd Russian military brigade based in the southwestern Russian city of Kursk.

Waiting for five years

Relatives of those killed aboard MH17 welcomed the news. "It's a start. I'm satisfied," said Silene Fredriksz, whose son and daughter-in-law were killed in the disaster. "I am happy that the trial is finally going to start and that the names have been announced."

Piet Ploeg, president of a Dutch victims' association who lost three family members on MH17, said this was "very important news." "The relatives of the victims have been waiting for this for nearly five years." 

The four suspects

Igor Girkin, 48, is the most high-profile suspect, having previously been the self-proclaimed defense minister in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine before apparently falling out with the Kremlin.

Girkin denied the separatists were involved. "I can only say that rebels did not shoot down the Boeing," he said when asked by media.

Sergei Dubinsky, 56, with former experience in the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, was head of the intelligence service of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Oleg Pulatov, 52, an ex-soldier in the GRU's Spetznaz special forces unit, was one of Dubinsky's deputies.

Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko was a military commander in Donetsk at the time, according to the Dutch prosecutors.

During the press conference, the investigators played a number of telephone intercepts to show the four were involved.

Absolutely unfounded

Russia vehemently denied all the involvement and complained that it had been excluded from the probe. "Once again, absolutely unfounded accusations are being made against the Russian side, aimed at discrediting Russia in the eyes of the international community," the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

Russia insisted last year that the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces, adding that it was sent to Ukraine in the Soviet era. Despite claims by Ukraine's government and Dutch media that senior Russian officers would also face charges, none were named by the prosecutors on Wednesday.

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the attack includes Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine, representing the countries hardest hit by the disaster.