Russia blamed for the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17: Netherlands and Australia initiated action at the UN

The Governments of Australia and the Netherlands began proceedings against Russia before the United Nations (UN) agency specializing in aviation safety for the shooting down of the flight MH17 in which 298 people died.

The event took place on July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, operated by a Boeing 777-200ER valued at USD 245 million, heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was intercepted by a surface-to-air missile “Buk” while flying over the eastern region of Ukraine, claiming the lives of 298 civilians among whom there were 196 Dutch and 38 Australians.

It is believed that the flight was wrongly shot down by, allegedly, Russian soldiers in alliance with separatist Ukrainians when the aircraft was flying over the Donetsk region.

Therefore, the countries initiated proceedings before the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), under the UN, demanding that it condemn and impose sanctions against Russia for violating international laws. The investigation will be based on information that reveals that the missile system that shot down the MH17 was transported to and from Russia by the Russian army in collaboration with the separatist Ukrainians.

“The joint action of Australia and the Netherlands is a big step forward in both countries' struggle for truth, justice and accountability for this horrific act of violence,” the Australian government said in a statement. Meanwhile, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that “the Government will continue to do everything in its power to hold Russia responsible for the destruction of flight MH17″.

The Kremlin always denied any responsibility for the event, to the point that in October 2020 it unilaterally withdrew from the discussions and negotiations it had with the Netherlands and Australia, and repeatedly refused to resume them.

“The Russian Federation's refusal to take responsibility for its role in the downing of flight MH17 is unacceptable and the Australian government has always said that it will not exclude any legal option in our search for justice,” reads a document signed by Scott Morrison himself, Prime Minister of Australia.

Finally, the Australian Government spoke about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, branded the Russian invasion “unprovoked and unjustified” and said that “the escalation of aggression underlines the need to continue our lasting efforts to hold Russia accountable for its flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter, including threats to Ukrainian sovereignty and airspace.”

The four suspects

While there are currently no culprits prosecuted for the downing of MH17, four suspects — Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin, and Ukraine's Leonid Karchenko — are being tried for two years in the Netherlands for the alleged responsibility they would bear for the plane's downing.

According to the Dutch prosecutor's office, the suspects would be responsible for organizing the military installation of missile launchers, their deployment and their transport to and from Russia. Although he admits that the alleged parties were not the ones who gave the order to shoot down the plane, he believes that they should have avoided it, so life imprisonment was requested for the four of them in December 2021. Relatives and relatives of the victims hope that by the end of this year the court will be able to issue a sentence for those involved.

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