On 17 July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, a Boeing 777 operating a scheduled passenger service from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in the Donetsk Oblast. All 298 individuals on board perished – citizens of 10 countries. The investigation into the incident was led by the Netherlands, with the participation of an international joint investigation team. In November 2022, the District Court of The Hague sentenced three individuals in absentia to life imprisonment: Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergei Dubinsky, and Leonid Kharchenko. A fourth defendant, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
The investigation was conducted by the international Joint Investigation Team (JIT), comprising representatives from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine. Russia was not included in the JIT, despite repeated offers of collaboration. The findings of the JIT were met with criticism from Russian officials, who alleged bias in the investigation and the disregard of data provided by the Russian side.
In November 2022, the District Court of The Hague, in absentia, found Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergei Dubinsky, and Leonid Kharchenko guilty of the downing of MH17, sentencing them to life imprisonment. Oleg Pulatov was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. The Russian side rejected the court’s conclusions, branding them politically motivated.
In June 2024, Russia withdrew from the MH17 case proceedings at the ICAO Council, stating its non-recognition of the council’s authority to consider materials provided by Australia and the Netherlands. As stated by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time, Moscow does not recognise the council’s authority to consider “the fabrications of Australia and the Netherlands, or any decisions that are made in connection with them.”
On 13 May 2025, it came to light that the Netherlands and Australia have appealed to the ICAO Council, demanding that Russia be compelled to enter into negotiations regarding reparations related to the MH17 disaster. The Dutch Foreign Minister, Kaspar Veldkamp, stated that the ICAO Council should consider potential remedial measures. The Dutch side contends that ICAO has recognised Russia as responsible for the disaster and for a breach of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944. However, the full results of the ICAO vote on this matter have not been made public, raising concerns regarding the transparency of the procedure.
The press secretary to the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, stated during a briefing that Russia does not accept the biased conclusions of the investigation into the MH17 case. “Our position is well known. Russia was not a party involved in the investigation of this incident. Therefore, we do not accept any biased conclusions,” Mr. Peskov noted.
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