Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash: Father of British victim Richard Mayne claims Putin 'murdered my son'
Maths student Richard was one of ten British victims of the crash
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Your support makes all the difference.The grieving father of a student who died on board the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has accused Vladimir Putin of essentially murdering his son after the jet was shot down in eastern Ukraine.
Simon Mayne said his son Richard, 20, was studying maths and finance before his death when the Boeing 777-200 fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk, killing all 298 passengers.
He had been on his way to Perth in Australia and had chosen flight MH17 specifically because he was diabetic and needed a stopover. Mr Mayne said his son was also a keen rugby player and had recently raised more than £1,000 for charity.
He told the Daily Mail: “If Putin wanted to speak out he would do so, he would sort them [the rebels] out.
“Everyone knows that what is going on out there is Russian sponsored. This is a man who rides bare-chested on a horse because he thinks people will admire him, but he’s murdered my son, essentially.”
Suggesting that those who shot down the plane had acquired it via Russian forces, Mr Mayne added: "Everybody knows that you don’t buy these missiles at a corner shop."
The final two British victims of the tragedy were named today as John Allen and Andrew Hoare. Shortly before their names were released, Philip Hammond warned Mr Putin that the "world's eyes are on Russia to make sure she delivers" on her obligations to the victims killed.
The British Foreign Secretary has summoned Russian's ambassador to discuss their response to the disaster.
Earlier today, separatist leader Alexander Borodai denied accusations by the Ukrainian government that 38 bodies had been transferred to a morgue in rebel-held Donetsk. He also said claims they had in any way interfered with the work of observers at the site of the crash were untrue at a news conference today.
Both sides have accused each other of shooting down the plane.
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