Airplane
Ninth Anniversary: Commemoration of Victims of MH17 Downing
Relatives of the victims attend the memorial service at the MH17 National Memorial. photo
© Sem Van Der Wal/ANP/dpa
In 2014, pro-Russian separatists shot down flight number MH17. All passengers and crew members died. Questions are still open.
Nine years after a Malaysian passenger plane was shot down over the Politicians and relatives of the victims commemorated Ukraine with almost 300 fatalities. Referring to Russia being held responsible for the downing, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter: “Responsibility for Russian crimes is inescapable.”
On July 17, 2014, pro-Russian separatists shot down flight number MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. All 298 passengers and crew perished.
Important questions still open
The relatives wanted to continue to work to ensure that those allegedly responsible in Moscow are held accountable, said the chairman of the association of relatives, Piet Ploeg. He pointed out that three masterminds had been sentenced to life imprisonment. An international team of investigators had also found clear indications of the Russian leadership for the first time.
“Unfortunately, important questions remain unanswered,” said Ploeg at a commemoration ceremony near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The Boeing had departed from there. At the celebration, the names of all the victims were read out, most of them Dutch. Malaysia also commemorated the victims. The International Court of Justice in The Hague is currently dealing with a lawsuit by Ukraine accusing Russia of supporting terrorism.
This also includes the alleged complicity in the downing of MH17: Moscow is said to have supplied the rebels with the Buk anti-aircraft missile with which the machine was shot down. Russia denies any responsibility. A Dutch criminal court sentenced two Russians and a Ukrainian to life imprisonment in absentia in November.