European Court condemns Russia for shooting down flight MH17

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Wednesday that Russia violated international law in Ukraine and was responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was hit by a missile while flying over Ukraine's Donetsk region in 2014, the Associated Press reported.

This is the first time an international court has held Russia accountable for human rights violations since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Three more rulings (jointly filed by Ukraine and the Netherlands) are now expected on charges of human rights abuses committed by the Kremlin and its support groups during the 2014-2022 conflict in the Donbass region .

The European Court judges stated in their ruling that there had never been “an almost universal condemnation of the accused State’s flagrant disregard for the foundations of the international legal order built after the Second World War.”

According to the head of the court, Russia was found guilty of the execution of "Ukrainian civilians and military personnel hors de combat", "acts of torture", "unjustified displacement of civilians" and "destruction, looting and expropriation" during the operation in the Ukrainian region of Donbass.

Regarding the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, the court finds that Russia "failed to take any measures to ensure rigorous verification of the missile's target or to safeguard the lives of those on board — which reveals an arrogant attitude towards civilians at risk from its hostile activities."

On July 17, 2014, a Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, was shot down by a Russian-made missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels . The crash killed all 298 passengers and crew , including 196 Dutch citizens. At the time, although Ukraine had not yet been invaded by Russia, the east of the country was already embroiled in armed conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the European Court of Human Rights' ruling as a milestone in their 11-year quest for justice . "It's a real step toward understanding who was truly responsible," Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the plane crash, told the Associated Press.

The Russian government has consistently denied any responsibility for the disaster. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the court's decision to condemn Russia for the downing of flight MH17. " We will not honor them . We consider them insignificant. That's all we can say," Peskov said, when asked at a press conference whether Russia would comply with the court's rulings, which govern the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In September 2022, Russia withdrew from the ECHR, meaning the Court could no longer hear new complaints against the country. However, as stated in the statement issued by the Council of Europe , the court remains competent to rule on the cases it had pending, including this one.

For its part, Ukraine expressed satisfaction with the "historic decisions handed down by the court." "We particularly appreciate the ECHR's clear conclusion that Russia's goal is to destroy Ukrainian sovereignty and subjugate the Ukrainian people. This is further proof of Russia's genocidal goals," wrote Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's Foreign Minister, on the social network X.

Regarding the plane crash, the Ukrainian minister welcomed the decision: "Enough with Russian lies. Russia is fully responsible for this horrific crime . It is crucial that Russia's efforts to cover up the crime by disseminating false information be equated with the inhumane treatment of the victims' families."

I welcome today's historic ECHR rulings, which clearly condemn Russia's aggression against Ukraine as unprecedented in European history.

The court is as clear as ever: Russian occupiers committed horrific atrocities during this war, including extrajudicial executions, torture,…

— Andrii Sybiha ???????? (@andrii_sybiha) July 9, 2025

"Together, we will continue to work to hold Russia and all Russian criminals accountable for their crimes, including their barbaric crime of aggression against Ukraine," Andrii Sybiha concluded.