The UN aviation agency on Monday held Russia responsible for the 2014 downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine, which killed all 298 people on board, though the Kremlin dismissed this assessment as “biased.““The Russian Federation failed to uphold its obligations under international air law in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17,” the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), based in Montreal, said in its statement.The claims made by Australia and the Netherlands over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on July 17, 2014, were “well founded in fact and in law.”This marks the first time ICAO has ruled on the substance of a dispute between member countries. Australia and the Netherlands, which lost the most citizens in the incident, have urged Russia to take responsibility and pay compensation.The Kremlin, however, strongly rejected the findings. Russian government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said “Russia was not a country that participated in the investigation of this incident. Therefore we do not accept all these biased conclusions.”On July 17, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile over eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where pro-Russian separatists were fighting Ukrainian forces.Russia has consistently denied any involvement in the attack, which occurred on July 17, 2014, when the passenger jet was shot down by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile over Donetsk — an area where pro-Russian rebels were battling Ukrainian forces. Dutch nationals made up two-thirds of the victims, alongside 38 Australians and around 30 Malaysians. Many passengers held dual citizenship.In the days following the incident, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned it as a “terrorist act,” while the rebels claimed a Ukrainian military jet was responsible. Russian President Vladimir Putin also shifted blame, saying Ukraine “bears responsibility.” However, the then-US President Barack Obama stated that the missile was launched from separatist-held territory and said the rebels couldn’t have done so without Russian support.In 2022, a Dutch court sentenced three men — including two Russian nationals — to life in prison for their roles in the attack. Russia refused to extradite them. Later, in 2023, an international team of investigators said there were “strong indications” that President Putin had personally approved the supply of the missile used to shoot down the plane.Last year, investigators halted their probe into the 2014 downing of the Malaysian airliner, citing insufficient evidence to identify additional suspects.Reacting to the ICAO’s ruling, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the move as a step toward accountability.“This is one more step toward restoring justice for this crime. And a clear message: no matter how much money and effort Russia puts into lying to conceal its crimes, the truth wins out, and justice prevails,” he posted on X.
