THERE are "strong indications" that Vladimir Putin personally approved the supply of the missile that shot down flight MH17 over Ukraine, international investigators say.
Prosecutors revealed evidence suggests the Russian President signed off on the use of the BUK-TELAR missile system.
The Malaysia Airlines jet flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew members.
The mid-air explosion and crash happened during a conflict between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian forces.
Investigators said there is evidence that warlord Putin decided to give the deadly missile to Moscow-backed separatists.
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However, although prosecutors suggested Putin was behind the missile transfer, the probe into the air disaster is being suspended.
Investigators said "all leads have been exhausted", less than three months after three men were sentenced to life in prison for murdering those on board MH17.
Russian nationals Igor Girkin, 51, and Sergey Dubinsky, 60, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, 50, were found guilty in absentia by a Dutch court - and were ordered to pay at least £14million in compensation.
The Joint Investigation Team of six countries probing the crash announced on Wednesday that there was insufficient evidence to launch any new operations.
"There are strong indications that the Russian president decided on supplying the Buk TELAR to the DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) separatists," they said in a statement.
"The investigation has now reached its limit, all leads have now been exhausted, the investigation is therefore being suspended".
The probe uncovered that Russian officials had postponed a decision to send weapons to Ukrainian separatists because Putin was at a D-Day commemoration in France in June 2014.
They played an intercepted telephone call from an advisor saying the delay was "because there is only one who makes a decision, the person who is currently at a summit in France".
Even if Putin could be put in the dock, he benefits from immunity thanks to his role as a tyrannical head of state.
This makes any effort to prosecute the Russian leader impossible, the investigators said.
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They added that "although we speak of strong indications, the high bar of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached" in relation to Putin.
The Joint Investigation Team is made up of members from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.
These were the countries worst affected by the crash of the doomed Boeing 777, as 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians, 38 Australians and 10 Brits were killed in the tragedy.
Prosecutors had previously aimed to track down the crew who operated the BUK missile and the chain of command, but they admitted it was not possible for now.
The rocket was allegedly brought from a Russian military base in the city of Kursk.
A damning report in 2016 confirmed the aircraft was shot down by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile.
Russia dismissed last year's Dutch verdict at the time as "scandalous" and politically motivated.
Moscow has consistently denied any involvement in the shooting down of MH17.
There is no suggestion that Putin ordered the aircraft to be shot down.
Judges at the trial last year said the missile had come from Russia and the men were part of a separatist group controlled by Moscow -- but said they had only helped bring it into Ukraine and had not pulled the trigger.
In 2019, international investigators released intercepted phone calls showing what they said were links between the rebels and "high-ranking" Russian officials, including Vladislav Surkov, a top aide to Putin.
