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The UN aviation agency has deemed Russia responsible for downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The plane flew over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
Over ten years on from the downing of Maylasia Airlines flight MH17, the UN aviation agency has definitively concluded that Russia was responsible.
The aircraft was show down by a Russian missile in July 2014. All 298 passengers were killed, though the Kremlin has consistently denied any involvement since the event occurred. Most on board were from the Netherlands.
The flight MH17 was heading to Kula Lumpur from Amsterdam. It crashed after being targeted over the Donbas region in Ukraine. This was during a conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.
On Monday, the UN’s Council of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) voted that the Russian Federation ‘failed to uphold its obligations under international air law.’ These state that all nations must ‘refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircrafts in flight.’
Both the Australian and Dutch governments brought this incident to the UN in 2022. Unsurprisingly, they unanimously welcome the ruling this week, according to the BBC.
In a statement, Australian foreign minister Penny Wong said that the country ‘calls upon Russia to finally face up to its responsibility for this horrific act of violence and make reparations for its egregious conduct.’
‘Our thoughts remain with those who lost their lives as a result of Russia’s actions, their families and loved ones,’ the statement reads.
Caspar Veldamp, the Dutch foreign minister, echoed a similar sentiment. ‘[This marks] an important step forward [in] establishing the truth and achieving justice and accountability.’
Three years ago – around the same time this case was first put forward – a Dutch court also ruled that a Russian-controlled group had downed the MH17 plane. Two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian national were convicted of murder in absentia as a result.
