The crime that killed 298 people – and the push to include it in Ukraine peace deal

London: Relatives of the victims of the MH17 disaster want Russia to acknowledge its role in the downing of the plane as part of any peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

A group representing the families of those killed in the tragedy have sent letters to US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, insisting that any credible peace deal brokered by the West must address Russia’s responsibility.

“A devastating way for anyone to die”: Debris from Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, while en route from Amsterdam Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur.

The attack, which occurred three hours into the flight, claimed the lives of all 298 people on board, including 38 Australian citizens and residents. The majority of passengers were Dutch, but others came from countries including Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany and the Philippines.

Sander van Luik, a member of the Truth-Finding MH17 working group, told this masthead many relatives believed any sincere peace settlement with Russia must include explicit recognition of its role in taking down the plane.

“What is true for MH17 is true for all atrocities committed since then,” said van Luik, whose brother Klaas Willem was a passenger on the plane. “Our message to the men, the parents sitting at the negotiating table, the same ones who teach their children not to lie, is simple: accountability must be part of any peace agreement.”

Sander van Luik is a member of the Truth-Finding MH17 working group. His brother Klaas Willem was a passenger on the plane.

An international investigation team concluded that Russian-backed separatists operating in the conflict-ridden Donetsk region had intentionally targeted the plane but that they had not done so in the knowledge that it was a commercial airliner. Russia has continued to deny any responsibility and has instead propagated conspiracy theories to deflect blame.

Van Luik said any admission of Russian guilt should be accompanied by “concrete and tangible action that demonstrates accountability”.

“Things like a formal apology, thorough and public investigations into why this crime happened, identification of all involved and also appropriate reparations, although maybe that is unlikely,” he said.

“There are still families wondering why their loved ones came to die,” he said. “Was it an accident or intentional? We know the names of three culprits, but they did not act alone. Who else is culpable?”

In November 2022, a Dutch court convicted three men – two Russian nationals, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and pro-Moscow Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko – in absentia for their roles in the attack. They were sentenced to life imprisonment, while a fourth defendant, Russian national Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. The court ordered the convicted men to pay more than €16 million ($27.54 million) in compensation to the victims’ families.

Despite the rulings, the relatives of the victims have consistently called on Russia to acknowledge its involvement and conduct a full investigation.

Russia has refused to hand over the three men involved in the downing, but Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof promised to fight to put them in prison on the 10th anniversary of the disaster.

“Putin’s refusal to acknowledge this crime has added to the already unbearable burden of our loss,” van Luik said. “The perpetrators’ impunity is a permanent insult to human dignity.”

A map of debris over the crash site from the investigation in 2015.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The Australian and Dutch governments this month filed their final arguments against Russia in a legal case before the International Civil Aviation Organisation Council, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong vowing to continue “to pursue truth, justice and accountability”.

Trump himself has said little of the MH17 disaster in public life, other than expressing doubt in 2015 that Russia was involved, before later saying the United States should stay out of it.

He promised to end the war in Ukraine throughout his presidential campaign, placing it at the top of his foreign policy plans for his second term. But he said last week he was “being a little bit sarcastic” when he repeatedly claimed he would have it solved within 24 hours.

After indirect talks in Saudi Arabia, the US said late on Tuesday, local time, that it had reached ceasefire deals with Ukraine and Russia to pause maritime attacks in the Black Sea and strikes against energy targets. The separate agreements are the first formal commitments by the warring sides since Trump’s inauguration.

The US agreement with Russia goes further than the one with Ukraine, with Washington committing to help seek the lifting of international sanctions on Russian agriculture and fertiliser exports.

The Kremlin said the Black Sea agreements would not come into effect unless links between some Russian banks and the international financial system were restored. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, said this was untrue and that there was no requirement of sanctions relief for the deals to come into force.

Kyiv and Moscow both said they would rely on Washington to enforce the deals, while expressing scepticism that the other side would abide by them.

With Reuters

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