Two Russian men and one Ukrainian have been found guilty of murdering 298 crew and passengers, including 10 Britons, on the MH17 flight after they shot down the passenger aircraft.
One Russian has been acquitted.
The court imposed a life-long sentence on all three but said no sentence will ever be enough for the pain caused to all of the friends and family of those who died.
Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko are now jointly liable for a total of 16 million euros in compensation to the relatives of the victims.
Oleg Pulatov bears no criminal responsibility and the conclusion is that he must be acquitted of all charges of both offences.
The verdict came more than eight years after the Boeing 777 MH17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot out of the sky on July 17, 2014, and was met with cries from relatives in the Dutch high-security court near Schiphol Airport.
“The truth on the table — that is the most important thing,” said Anton Kotte, who lost his son, daughter-in-law and 6-year-old grandson when MH17 was shot down.
He said to AP the hearing was a “D-Day” for relatives.
Robbert van Heijningen, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew, called the downing “an act of barbarism” that he could never put behind him, regardless of the verdict.
“I call it a stone in my heart, and stones... don’t disappear,” he said.
The victims, 80 of which were children, came from 17 countries, including 198 Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysians, 38 Australians and 10 from the UK. Families with children, young couples, retirees, teenagers and professionals all perished in the tragedy.
None of the suspects were present and only the attorneys of Pulatov were attending therefore his trial is adversarial; the other three cases are in absentia.
The three men are all fugitives and will likely never face jail time due to Russian law forbidding the extradition of their nationals.
If the perpetrators do not pay the 16 million euros for damage after eight months, then the Dutch state will pay and continue to try to collect the money from them.
Pulatov said he wanted to give a video message to the Dutch court but did not end up presenting anything.
While some may think the sentence is therefore futile, it provides huge closure and answers for the family and friends of nearly 300 people.
The court determined that MH17 was downed by Buk, launched from an agriculture field in Pervomaiskiy, eastern Ukraine. This caused the downing of the plane and the death of all on board.
President Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said there are no alternative scenarios, they have an "abundance of evidence" and this is what caused the tragedy.
The court also concluded that Russia had control over the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR], where the plane was downed, in 2014, despite Russia denying so.
The judge said evidence presented by Russia was repeatedly shown to be forged or otherwise false.
Steenhuis described phone calls in which the accused were coordinating the military actions with Moscow (or even the Kremlin) and that the Russian Federation provided financial support.
The judge also said the idea that Ukraine shot down the plane with its own Buk is a "fantasy that belongs in the realm of fantasy" and that it was clear that the Buk was transported and returned under the authority of Dubinsky.
The Buk came from Russia on that night of 16-17 July.
Steenhuis says the suspects wanted the Buk, requested it, and received it.
The court says Pulatov was responsible for securing the route to the field and its return, however, he wasn't present when it was fired and he did not have an influence on the plan.
Girkin directed the battlefield that day and was the one keeping up the running discussion with Moscow.
We do not know who ultimately ordered the launch of the missile or who pushed the button, but, Steenhuis says, a "Buk missile cannot be launched by mistake or in the heat of the moment."
He continued: "The missile was fired at its target deliberately and it was crystal clear what the aim of firing it was."
Because the defendants are not entitled to combat immunity, they are not allowed to shoot down any aircraft, military or civilian.
Girkin, 51, is the most senior to be given the sentence and it is thought he is currently involved with Russia's war in Ukraine.
He is a former colonel in Russia's Federal Security Service and at the time of the downing, he was the defence minister and commander of the armed forces of DPR.
All four men have denied involvement in the downing of MH17.
Girkin says MH17 was not shot down by DPR forces.
Dubinsky says he was only involved in transporting the missile and nothing more.
Pulatov has denied any involvement or that he ever even discussed the missile with anyone.
But recorded telephone conversations in which he spoke about the missile, means he then claimed conversations were deliberately aimed to deceive the enemy.
Kharchenko says he never saw a missile in eastern Ukraine.
Each of the suspects has the right to appeal after the judgment and if they are apprehended when travelling abroad they would have the right to a retrial.
The trial was held under Dutch law because Russia used its Security Council veto to block an independent international tribunal to handle the case.
Separate proceedings at the European Court of Human Rights are continuing to establish whether Russia can be held responsible for the downing of the plane and for a failure to investigate, as well as whether Ukraine can be held responsible for failing to close its airspace during the war in the east.
