ECHR accepts lawsuit of the Netherlands against Russia on shooting down passenger flight MH17

It is reported by The Guardian.

Australia and the Netherlands are demanding compensation and an apology from the Russian Federation for shooting down MH17, which resulted in 298 people dead, including 38 Australians, after crashing over the territory of the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine in 2014.

At the same time, Russia denies being responsible in any way, despite the expertise provided by the international organization.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Netherlands can bring this case against the Russian Federation.

Representatives of the affected countries claim that there is convincing evidence that the plane was shot down by the Russian Buk-Telar anti-aircraft missile system, which was brought from Russia to the then-occupied agricultural field in eastern Ukraine on the morning of July 17, 2014.

This case proves the likelihood of holding Russia accountable for human rights violations in the currently occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

• The passenger Boeing-777 of Malaysia Airlines with 298 people on board, flying from Amsterdam (the Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was shot down over the temporarily occupied territory of Donbass on July 17, 2014. Nobody survived the crash: 283 passengers and 15 crew members were reported dead.

• Four years of investigation later, on May 24, 2018, the Joint Investigation Team presented a report that concluded that the Boeing was shot down on July 17, 2014 over the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine using the Buk missile system of the 53rd Anti-Aircraft  missile brigade of the Russian Armed Forces. The team has revealed the parts of the missile that shot down MH17.

•  On December 20, 2021, prosecutors stated that the Buk missile system was brought from the Russian Federation on the day the plane was shot down and claimed that the defendants were guilty of murder. On December 21, the prosecutors reported that the investigation identified the Russian Buk by 15 features. The Dutch Prosecutor's office has demanded life imprisonment for the four people accused in this crime - three Russians and one Ukrainian: Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko. The prosecution demands that those guilty should pay compensation to the families of the victims.

• On November 17, 2022, The Hague court announced the verdict: the plane was shot down in 2014 by the Donetsk separatists. According to the results of the tribunal, the missiles were launched using Buk from the village of Pervomayske, Donetsk region. At that time, the village was under the control of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic. According to the verdict, Igor Girkin and his subordinates, Sergey Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko, are guilty of the crime. They are responsible for the deaths of 298 people. Oleg Pulatov, another suspect, is considered innocent.