The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Russia violated international law in Ukraine and is responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, marking the first time an international court has officially held Moscow accountable for both its military actions and the deadly aviation disaster.
In landmark rulings issued Wednesday, the Strasbourg-based court stated that Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine breached human rights law, and that a Russian-made Buk missile fired from Russia-backed separatist-held territory was responsible for shooting down MH17, killing all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch nationals, News.Az reports, citing Euro News.
The cases were filed by Ukraine and the Netherlands prior to Russia’s expulsion from the court in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the rulings are largely symbolic due to Russia’s departure from the ECHR, they are seen as a major victory for families of the MH17 victims.
“It’s a real step in understanding who was really responsible,” said Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy.
The rulings come as Kyiv pursues more legal actions against Moscow, with nearly 10,000 individual cases still pending in Strasbourg. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also approved plans to create a new international tribunal targeting senior Russian officials for crimes linked to the ongoing war.
The downing of MH17 occurred on July 17, 2014, during heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine. A separate Dutch criminal court convicted two Russians and one Ukrainian rebel in absentia in 2022 for their roles in the attack.
This decision marks a milestone in the long legal and moral battle to hold Russia accountable on the international stage.
