Judges in The Hague will announce their verdicts in the long-running MH17 murder case on November 17.

Four suspects – three Russians and one Ukrainian – have been charged with causing the crash of flight MH17 which was shot down over eastern Ukraine en route to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board.

None of the men is in custody and only one retained a lawyer.

Prosecutors have demanded a life sentence for all four men. ‘It is clear that only a long prison sentence is appropriate,’ prosecutor Thijs Berger told the court just before Christmas.

The trial started over two years ago, attracting tremendous media attention. More than 500 journalists from all over the world turned up for its opening day, only days before the Netherlands went into lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Arrest

Meanwhile, according to website Kyiv Independent, one of the four men, a warlord named Igor Girkin has been arrested in Crimea by the Russian authorities.

He was reportedly trying to get to the frontline and fight against Ukraine, the website quotes a close ally as saying. Girkin, was reportedly travelling on a forged passport.

He has reportedly become a critic of Russian president Putin for mishandling the war.