On November 17, the District Court of the Hague handed down a verdict from their years-long criminal investigation into the people responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over a field in eastern Ukraine. The passenger plane was shot down in 2014 by a surface-to-air Buk missile, killing the 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. The Dutch court found two Russians and one Ukrainian guilty.

Investigative journalists played a crucial role in identifying the parties responsible. The journalists and researchers at Bellingcat, an investigative news outlet that specializes in collaborative reporting using open source materials, teamed up with Roman Dobrokhotov, an investigative reporter and Editor-in-Chief of The Insider, to identify the Russian military commanders who ordered the firing of the missile that killed 298 people. Using a combination of voice analysis, caller ID apps, and a package delivered to a fake address, they identified the commanders and handed this information to the Dutch court. In the process, they also revealed secret Russian intelligence operations behind Russia's so-called "separatist movements" in Ukraine and Georgia. Aric Toler, the director of research and training at Bellingcat, explains the open source methods used to crack the case, and Brooke speaks with Dobrokhotov about how investigative journalism has led to a greater understanding of Putin's government and how it operates.

This is a segment from our December 2, 2022, The Oldest Trick.