Three Russians and one Ukrainian national have been identified as suspects in the 2014 downing of passenger flight MH17, investigators say.

The Dutch-led probe said it was going to prosecute Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, in a briefing in Utrecht on Wednesday.

“Today we will send out international arrest warrants for the first suspects that we will prosecute. They will also be placed on national and international wanted lists,” chief constable of the Netherlands National Police Wilbert Paulissen told a press conference.

Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said they were the “four who will be held accountable for bringing the deadly weapon, the BUK Telar, into eastern Ukraine”.

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 Russia’s southwestern city of Kursk.

Igor Girkin denied Wednesday that pro-Russian separatists were behind the missile attack that left 298 people dead. 

“I can only say that rebels did not shoot down the Boeing,” Igor Strelkov, who is also known as Igor Girkin, told Russia’s Interfax news agency. 

Relatives of the victims had been told the trial of the four men would begin in the Netherlands in March 2020.

However, the suspects are likely to be tried in absentia as Russia does not allow its nationals to be sent abroad for prosecution, while investigators said Kharchenko’s whereabouts were currently unknown.

There were 38 Australians, one New Zealander, 193 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 12 Indonesians aboard MH17, as well as 10 British passengers.

The other passengers were from Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, and Canada.

The Joint Investigation Team was formed in 2014 by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine to investigate collaboratively.