On July 10, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a historic verdict, concluding that Russia shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew members.
The Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile, launched from a territory controlled by pro- moscovite breakaway forces in eastern Ukraine.
According to the 501-page ruling, Russia must bear responsibility for the MH17 attack. The court said it was not necessary to determine the person who directly caused the fire, as Russia must bear responsibility for the actions of the armed forces and the breakaway forces under its control.
The court's statement stated that the Buk-Telar missile is unable to distinguish between civilian and military aircraft, and that no measures have been taken by Russia to determine the target accurately. This is a serious violation of the principle of discrimination and prevention in international humanitarian law.
During a sentencing hearing in Strasbourg, Court President Mattias Guyomar affirmed that Russia's actions were "clearly illegal". The court also pointed out that Russia's refusal to participate in the trial is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights - the legal basis of ECHR.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia did not recognize the verdict and considered it "unregarded". However, Ukraine considered this a "historic and unprecedented" victory. The victims' families also expressed their satisfaction with the clear conclusion of the court.
The court noted that Russia's failure to investigate the incident further exacerbated the pain of the victims' relatives.
Previously, in May, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also determined that Russia must bear responsibility for the incident, based on a lawsuit initiated by Australia and the Netherlands.
Although Russia left the European Council in 2022 due to the full-scale conflict with Ukraine, ECHR still has the authority to handle Russia-related lawsuits if they arise before it leaves the Council. Compensation will be decided later, but the possibility of enforcement is very low because Russia is no longer a member.
In parallel, a separate criminal case in the Netherlands has sentenced two Russians and one Ukrainian who were absent for their role in the MH17 shooting down.
