Russia Ruled Responsible for 2014 MH17 Downing by UN and European Courts

More than a decade after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, international bodies have definitively ruled Russia responsible. This month, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 9, 2025, and previously the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council on May 13, 2025, issued rulings attributing responsibility to the Russian Federation for the tragedy.

The ICAO Council's decision marked a historic first, determining that Russia failed to uphold its obligations under international air law, specifically the Chicago Convention, which prohibits the use of weapons against civil aircraft. The case was brought by the Netherlands and Australia, whose citizens comprised a significant portion of the victims, including 196 Dutch and 38 Australian nationals.

The ECHR echoed these findings, ruling Russia responsible for the downing and the deaths, and for causing additional suffering to victims' families through its continued denial and obstruction of investigations. The human toll was immense, with the tweet from Visegrád 24 stating:

"298 innocent people were killed, including 80 children."

These international rulings follow years of extensive investigations. A Dutch court in November 2022 convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian in absentia for murder, concluding the Buk missile system used originated from a Russian military base. Furthermore, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in February 2023 found "strong indications" that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the supply of the missile system, though that specific inquiry was suspended.

The rulings from ICAO and ECHR also pave the way for discussions on reparations for the victims' families, with the Netherlands and Australia calling for Russia to enter negotiations. The consistent findings from multiple independent investigations reinforce the tweet's assertion that "the evidence is undeniable." Despite this, as Visegrád 24 concluded in their social media post, "to this day, the Kremlin lies, denies, and protects those responsible."