Russia ruled responsible for the downing of MH17 over occupied Ukraine and killing of 298 passengers and crew

The UN’s Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO] has ruled that Russia was responsible for the downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 over occupied Donetsk oblast on 17 July 2014.  The ruling by the ICAO Council is a huge move towards justice for the 298 passengers and crew killed by a Russian BUK missile, and their families. It is also of critical importance in demolishing Russia’s lies, not only about MH17, but about its role in the military conflict in eastern Ukraine from 2014.   

The ruling on 12 May 2025 was a first for ICAO and came in response to a case brought against the Russian Federation back in 2022 by the Netherlands and Australia.  ICAO agreed with the applicants that “the conduct of the Russian Federation in the downing of the aircraft by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine constitutes a breach of Article 3 bis of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.  The latter requires that States "refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight."  

According to the Duch Foreign Ministry, the “vast majority” of members of the ICAO Council voted in support of the ruling, with the Council now to consider the question of legal redress. The Netherlands and Australia had asked the Council to both demand that Russia enters into negotiations with them, and that the Council oversees this process.  The reason for this could have been put more bluntly but is entirely clear: the Council can “ensure that the negotiations are conducted in good faith, according to established timelines and will actually lead to results.”

Russia used its vast arsenal of disinformation techniques to blur the truth about MH17, and its position in the United Nations Security Council to veto a UN investigation. Having been unable to block the work of the Joint Investigation Team and prevent the Dutch Prosecutor from bringing criminal charges against four MH17 suspects, Moscow then did all in its power to obstruct the proceedings and drag them out as long as possible.  It even released 35 Ukrainian political prisoners, including Oleh Sentsov, in September 2019 in order to prevent key MH17 witness (and possible suspect) Volodymyr Tsemakh being able, in Ukraine, to provide crucial evidence to the Dutch prosecution.

It was thanks to the efforts of the Joint Investigation Team and the determination of the Dutch Prosecutor that Russia’s obstruction failed. It remains to be seen whether it can be forced to pay reparations, and we are still very far from seeing those in command held to answer, but the ICAO’s ruling is a victory.  As Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said, “The decision cannot take away their grief and suffering, but it is an important step towards truth-finding, justice and accountability for all victims of flight MH17 and their relatives. In addition, this ruling is a clear signal to the international community that states cannot violate international law without consequences.”

After Russia vetoed a UN investigation, the Joint Investigation Team [JIT] was formed by the Netherlands; Australia; Belgium; Malaysia and Ukraine.  In June 2019, JIT and the Dutch Prosecutor announced that three Russians and a Ukrainian were to be tried in absentia over their alleged role in the disaster.  The three Russians were all active players in the Russian proxy ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ [‘DPR’], but had recently been officers either of Russia’s GRU [military intelligence] or FSB ]security service].  Igor Girkin, ‘DPR military commander’, was, until late 2013 a Russian FSB colonel.  His deputy, Sergei Dubinsky, was a ‘former’ Russian GRU officer, while Oleg Pulatov, Dubinsky’s deputy, was a ‘former’ GRU spetsnaz officer. The only Ukrainian national, Leonid Kharchenko, was in charge of a militant unit and was subordinate to Dubinsky. 

The trial began at the District Court of the Hague in March 2020.  The only defendant who took any part (in absentia, and via Dutch lawyers) in the trial was Pulatov.  One of the reasons why the trial lasted 32 months was, in fact, the applications from Pulatov’s defence, such as that ‘alternative versions’ be re-investigated. 

The prosecution were able to present geo-located video and photographic evidence; hundreds of intercepted calls; witness testimony, and also ‘fingerprint’ level identification of parts of the wreckage. All of this proved that the airliner had been downed by a Buk missile provided by a unit of the Russian army: the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk.

The defendants were not accused of having directly fired the missile that downed MH17.  On 17 November 2022, Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko were all found guilty of having “as functional perpetrators, intentionally and unlawfully, caused an aeroplane (namely flight MH17) to crash, by firing a Buk missile by means of a Buk TELAR”.  This was despite the danger to the lives of all those on the plane, with the result being that they had killed all 298 people on MH17.  The three men were all sentenced to life imprisonment, with the court ordering their arrest and granting 308 claims for compensation of over 16 million euros.  The court concluded, however, that the evidence provided against Pulatov had not been sufficient to prove his guilt. 

Without a regime change in Russia, the men are unlikely to be arrested.  The trial and verdicts were, nonetheless, extremely important, not least because the court concluded that Russia had controlled ‘DPR’ militants from at least May 2014, and that it had provided the BUK missile launcher used in the murder of 298 civilians, including 40 children.

In fact, JIT and the Dutch Prosecutor actively demolished Russia’s attempts to distance itself from both MH17 and ‘DPR’ from the beginning.  They were extremely public in demonstrating that they had considerable evidence and in inviting witnesses to come forward.  They published, for example, intercepted calls which proved Russian government control of the ‘DPR militants’ on the eve of the MH17 disaster, as well as witness testimony placing Russian military personnel at the site of the BUK missile launcher. 

Russia’s obstruction of all attempts to find out the truth went far beyond its veto of a UN investigation and its hiding of MH17 witness Volodymyr Tsemakh.  Russian state media had, within minutes of the downing of MH17, followed Girkin and other militants in ‘celebrating’ the supposed downing of a Ukrainian military personnel plane.  As it became clear what had happened, the media began removing the incriminating video footage.  An army of Internet trolls were immediately mobilized, with these posting a record-breaking 65 thousand tweets trying to blame Ukraine for the disaster.  As is often the case, where the evidence is so overwhelmingly damning, it has concentrated efforts on trying to provide a barrage of supposed ‘alternative explanations’, however implausible.