EU calls on Russia to admit responsibility for downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine

The EU said this in a statement on "Ten years since the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17," which was read out at a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, July 18, according to Ukrinform.

"On 17 November 2022, the District Court of The Hague sentenced three individuals to life imprisonment for their role in the downing of Flight MH17. The European Union emphasises that the evidence presented by the Joint Investigation Team in the proceedings before the Dutch District Court, and submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), makes it abundantly clear that the BUK surface-to-air missile system used to bring down Flight MH17 belonged beyond doubt to the armed forces of the Russian Federation," the statement said.

It added that "no Russian disinformation operation can distract from these basic facts, established by a court of law."

"The European Union reiterates its call on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility in this tragedy and to cooperate fully in serving justice," the statement said.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 passenger flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed over the temporarily occupied part of the Donetsk region on July 17, 2014.

There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board, all of whom died.

The International Investigation Team concluded that the plane was shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile system belonging to the 53rd Air Defense Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces based in Kursk.

A court in the Netherlands found guilty in the case of the downing of flight MH17 ex-FSB officer and former 'Minister of Defense of the DPR' Ihor Girkin (Strelkov), GRU General of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, head of the 'GRU of the DPR' Sergey Dubinsky and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko.

Photo: Iryna Drabok