UN aviation body rules Russia downed Malaysian airliner

MH17 flight recovery team members examine one of the areas of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane crash in the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. (AP/Mstyslan Chernov)

The U.N. aviation council on Monday ruled that Russia was responsible for the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine that killed all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch citizens and 38 Australian citizens or residents, the Dutch and Australian governments said in separate statements.

Both governments said the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) would in the coming weeks consider what form of reparation was in order.

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, and was shot down over eastern Ukraine as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces.

In November 2022, Dutch judges convicted two Russian men and a Ukrainian man in absentia of murder for their role in the attack. Moscow called the ruling “scandalous” and said it would not extradite its citizens.

The ICAO, which is based in Montreal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case was launched in 2022 by Australia and the Netherlands.

“The decision is an important step towards establishing the truth and achieving justice and accountability for all victims of Flight MH17, and their families and loved ones,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a statement.

“This decision also sends a clear message to the international community: states cannot violate international law with impunity.”

The Netherlands and Australia want the ICAO Council to order Russia to enter into negotiations over reparations, he added.

Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government welcomed the decision and urged ICAO to move swiftly to determine remedies.

“We call upon Russia to finally face up to its responsibility for this horrific act of violence and make reparations for its egregious conduct, as required under international law,” Wong said in a statement.

ICAO lacks regulatory power but holds moral suasion and sets global aviation standards overwhelmingly adopted by its 193-member states.

Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Bill Berkrot