Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry calls on Russia to accept its responsibility for downing of MH17

On the day of the sixth anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and the death of 298 people of 17 nationalities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on Russia to accept its responsibility and cooperate with the investigation.

“Ukraine calls on Russia to accept its responsibility and adhere to its international obligations, namely under the UN SC Resolution 2166, to cooperate with the ongoing investigation and criminal proceedings,” reads Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry statement on the sixth anniversary of the downing of flight MH17.

The Foreign Ministry expresses its condolences to the relatives and friends of the crash victims and assures that it will do everything possible to establish justice in the case of downing of MH17 flight and to hold those responsible liable.

“Ukraine remains fully committed to joint efforts with the JIT partners to bring to justice those responsible for the MH17 downing. We commend the beginning of criminal proceedings that will inevitably bring to justice those responsible for the downing of MH17, and reiterate our full support to the proceedings led by the Dutch prosecutors,” the statement reads.

As noted, Ukraine also takes steps within the proceedings in the ICJ to hold Russia accountable for the breach of its obligations under the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which led to the downing of MH17.

“Another important step is the decision of the Netherlands to bring the case against Russia in the ECHR in order to hold Russia liable in view of its role in the downing of MH17,” Ukrainian diplomats note.

On July 16, EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell made a statement on behalf of the EU on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of MH17 crash, calling on Russia to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with efforts to establish accountability.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over conflict-hit Donbas in July 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died.

 The JIT reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

Russia does not plead guilty to the deaths of passengers and crew members.

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