- Flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 17, 2014, and the majority of the passengers onboard were from the Netherlands.
- The men convicted were Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy, as well as Ukrainian separatist Leonid Kharchenko. They were not at the trial, and have not been apprehended, so it is not likely that they will have to serve out their life sentences.
- The convictions place the fault on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, although the Kremlin has consistently said it played no role in the incident, according to the Associated Press.
