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Four Suspects Involved In Malaysian Airlines MH17 Plane Crash To Be Named Today

The Boeing 777 crashed in rebel-held eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014, at the height of the conflict between government troops and separatists.

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Investigators probing the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine in 2014 will present new evidence later on Wednesday.

The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is expected to name suspects and announce charges for the first time.

Flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down, killing all 298 on board.

Investigators blame Russian-backed separatists who they say targeted the plane with a Russian-made missile.

The Boeing 777 crashed in rebel-held eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014, at the height of the conflict between government troops and separatists.

Russia has denied any involvement and has maintained the missile was fired from Ukrainian-held territory.

According to the BBC, Dutch investigators will hold a press conference on Wednesday after briefing relatives of victims.

The JIT, which seeks to try the suspects under Dutch law, has previously said it had a "long list" of persons of interest and appealed for witness help.

On Friday, prosecutors announced the release of new findings, prompting widespread reports in Dutch media that suspects will be named.

Kateryna Zelenko, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's foreign ministry, told the Unian news agency on Tuesday that "as early as tomorrow the world will hear the names of the first four people suspected of involvement".

Ms Zelenko said Dutch prosecutors would then file the case in a Netherlands court.

"The guilt of the four suspects must be proved first and foremost in court," the spokeswoman added.

Internet open source investigators Bellingcat are also due to release a new report into the crash.

The Bellingcat team has already identified individuals it alleges may have been involved in the attack, including a military intelligence colonel in the rebel-held Donetsk area known as Khmuryi (gloomy), and a military intelligence official commanding Russian-backed separatists in Luhansk who went by the codename of Orion.