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Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments Wednesday against Russia in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands, finding Moscow shot down flight MH17, killing all passengers, including 38 Australians.
Judges at the European court of human rights ruled that Russia was responsible for widespread violations of international law, from shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014 to the murder, torture, rape, destruction of civilian infrastructure and kidnapping of Ukrainian children after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of 2022.
Reading the decisions in a packed courtroom in Strasbourg, the court’s president, Mattias Guyomar, said Russian forces engaged in “manifestly unlawful” conduct in the July 2014 attack on the flight.
“The court agreed that the evidence suggested that the missile had been intentionally fired at flight MH17 most likely in the mistaken belief that it had been a military aircraft,” the court said in a statement.
“It was not necessary for the court to decide exactly who had fired the missile, since Russia was responsible for the acts of the Russian armed forces and of the armed separatists.
“The court accepted the evidence of the Dutch government that a Buk-Telar [missile system] acting alone could not distinguish between military and civilian aircraft.
“The court found that no measures had been taken by Russia to accurately identify military targets, in breach of the principles of distinction and precautions.”
The Kremlin said it would ignore the largely symbolic judgment, but Ukraine hailed it as “historic and unprecedented,” saying it was an “undeniable victory” for the embattled country.
The 501-page judgment noted that Russia’s refusal to participate in the proceedings also was a violation of European convention on human rights, the treaty that underpins the court.
Asked about the judgment before the rulings were read, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said: “We won’t abide by it, we consider it void.”
Families of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight 17 disaster saw the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.
Thomas Schansman, whose 18-year-old son, Quinn, was aboard the jetliner, said the judgment made it clear who caused the disaster. Russia “is responsible for killing my son”, Schansman said.
The Boeing 777 was shot down on 17 July 2014 using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels loyal to Moscow.
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All 298 passengers and crew were killed. The victims came from 17 countries and included 198 Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysians, 38 Australians and 10 from the UK.
The judges found that Russia’s refusal to acknowledge its involvement in the flight MH17 disaster also violated international law. Russia’s failure to properly investigate “significantly aggravated the suffering” of the relatives and friends of the dead.
“Russia never took any opportunity to tell the truth,” Schansman said.
In May, the UN’s aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster after Australia and the Netherlands launched legal proceedings against Russia under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, the continent’s foremost human rights institution. The court’s governing body expelled Moscow in 2022 in response to the all-out invasion, but the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion and, legally, the country is still obliged to participate in the proceedings.
The court will rule on financial compensation at a later date but Russia’s departure leaves little hope that damages will ever be collected.
The decisions in Strasbourg are separate from a criminal prosecution in the Netherlands in which two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel were convicted in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of Flight MH17.
