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

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

The Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issued a statement on July 18 demanding Russia admit its responsibility for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. The Council's statement comes one day after the 10th anniversary of the plane's destruction on July 17, 2014. The flight was downed by a Russian Russian Buk surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 people.

"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 District Court of The Hague in November 2022 sentenced in absentia two Russian nationals and one Ukrainian national to life imprisonment for their involvement in the downing of flight MH17. A fourth defendant, also a Russian national, was acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence connecting him to the crime.

According to the Council, the Court's verdict "makes it abundantly clear" that the missile "belonged beyond doubt to the armed forces of the Russian Federation." "No Russian disinformation operation can distract from these basic facts, established by a court of law," the statement read. Russia denied responsibility for the downing, and none of those deemed responsible have ever been brought to justice.

President Volodymyr Zelensky commemorated the anniversary of the tragedy in a statement on July 17. "It's been 10 years since Russian murderers shot down the MH17 passenger plane in the skies over Ukraine," he said. "The whole world witnessed then who came to wage war against Ukraine and that Russian evil is a threat not only to us but to all."

The downing of MH17, and Russia's responsibility

Two plaques are displayed in the entrance hall of the Dutch Embassy in Kyiv.

One commemorates the opening of the building, while the other is simply inscribed with the words "MH17 - July 17, 2014." At 12:31 on July 17, 2014, flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, set