MH17: Russian separatist leader sued for $900 million by crash victims
Exclusive: Igor Girkin formally accused of orchestrating the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines flight in east Ukraine
Igor Girkin, the leader of Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, was on Wednesday formally accused of orchestrating the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines flight, MH17, in July last year.
A writ filed in Chicago also alleges that Mr Girkin was acting with the blessing of the Kremlin when his forces fired at the Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The case has been brought on behalf of the families of 18 of the passengers on board the aircraft, including six Britons.
They are claiming a total of $900 million (£575 million).
In all 298 people died when a missile was fired at the aircraft as it flew over eastern Ukraine.
