Relatives of the victims of the 2014 MH17 disaster insist that no credible peace deal can be reached without Russia acknowledging its responsibility for shooting down the plane.
In letters addressed to US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the families said that Russia’s recognition of guilt is essential if there is to be any meaningful settlement.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Copies of these letters, obtained by the European Pravda media outlet, have also been sent to Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, key committees of the Dutch parliament, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
The families have long demanded that Russia take responsibility, issue an apology, and launch a full public investigation into all those involved. They now believe these demands should be a fundamental part of any future peace agreement.
“Without this, there can be no reliable peace with Russia,” they stated.
July 17, 2024, marked the tenth anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. The passenger jet, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down in the war-torn region.
The incident occurred during the early stages of Russia’s war against Ukraine, following Moscow’s seizure of Crimea and its support for separatist rebels in the east.
At 4:19 p.m. local time, while flying at 33,000 feet (10.1 kilometers) over Donetsk, MH17 exploded mid-air. Its victims included 196 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians, and 38 Australians.
New Deputy Chief of Ukraine’s Military General Staff Appointed
A later reconstruction of the aircraft revealed the devastating impact. According to a Dutch-led investigation, the plane’s forward section was “penetrated by hundreds of high-energy objects coming from the [missile] warhead.”
The blast instantly killed the three crew members in the cockpit, causing the aircraft to break apart in the air. Investigators also suggested that some passengers may have been conscious for up to 90 seconds before the plane crashed.
In 2016, an international probe confirmed with “irrefutable evidence” that a Russian-made BUK (NATO: SA-11 Gadfly) surface-to-air missile had downed MH17.
The projectile was traced back to a Russian military brigade based in Kursk that had been transported into separatist-held eastern Ukraine. Moscow denied involvement, insisting no such missile had crossed its border.
In June 2019, four senior figures from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic - Russians Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, and Oleg Pulatov, along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko - were charged with murder.
They were accused of transporting the missile system to the launch site, though not of actually firing it. Investigators also found “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved the missile’s delivery to the rebels.
After a two-and-a-half-year trial, a Dutch court convicted Girkin, Dubinsky, and Kharchenko in absentia in November 2022, sentencing them to life in prison for murder and causing an aircraft to crash. Pulatov was acquitted. The three convicted men refused to participate in the trial or acknowledge their involvement.
Despite these convictions, justice remains elusive. In 2023, MH17 crash investigators suspended their work, citing a lack of evidence to prosecute additional suspects.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged the limitations of the legal process. “In the end, we were unable to put anyone behind bars,” he told public broadcaster NOS. “That sense of justice is there, but ultimately not as it should have been.”
However, investigations against Russia continue at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN agency. The Netherlands and Ukraine have also brought a case against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights.
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
