European Court rules Russia responsible for shooting down Flight MH17 in 2014
Judges at the court in Strasbourg are ruling on four cases brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, encompassing a wide range of alleged human rights violations during the full-scale invasion since the start of the war, including the downing of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and kidnapping Ukrainian children.
Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court's governing body expelled Moscow in 2022, following the full-scale invasion.
Families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.
'It's a real step in understanding who was really responsible,' Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told the Associated Press.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels.
All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.
In May, the UN's aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.
The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, which is the continent's foremost human rights institution.
Russia was expelled from the council over Moscow's invasion and war in Ukraine.
However, the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion.
In 2023, the judges sided with Ukraine and the Netherlands in a challenge over jurisdiction, finding there was sufficient evidence to show areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels were 'under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation', including providing weapons, and giving political and economic support.
Wednesday's rulings will not be the last from the EHCR dealing with the war.
Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.
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.
In 2022, the United Nations' top court ordered Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine while a case is heard, a process that takes years. Russia has flouted the order by the International Court of Justice.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky formally approved plans to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Schansman, who has also brought an individual case to the ECHR, has no plans to stop pursuing justice, more than a decade after his son's death.
'The worst thing we could to is stop fighting,' he told the AP. 'MH17 is not a case that will disappear for Russia.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Secret North Korea base uncovered which can strike US with nuclear ballistic missiles
A study by a North Korean watchdog has found a new military base tucked away on the Chinese border could launch a missile to hit the United States A secret military base has popped up on North Korea's border with China - which could harbour its world-ending ballistic missiles. The base, which is in North Pyongan Province, is 17 miles from the Chinese border. The existence of the structure was exposed by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in a paper published on Wednesday. It's thought the covert site was built in 2004, but was used as an operational military site around 10 years later. Using a mix of satellite imagery and declassified documents, CSIS was able to expose the site as a military base, which is thought to harbour six to nine warhead-wielding ICBMs. The site, which is around the size of JFK airport in New York, could also hold launchers and the trucks that have been adapted to transport them. Analysts have warned the site is especially dangerous because there are no launch pads or air-defence systems. They believe this means the site contains solid-fuel ICBMs which can be launched far more quickly than their counterparts. It means they're difficult to detect and even harder to carry out a pre-emptive strike. The CSIS has gone so far to say the weapons "pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States". There are at least 15 undeclared missile sites across the country, according to reports, including missile bases and warhead depots. CSIS analysts say this is the first confirmation of the site in Sinpung-dong. Current estimates suggest North Korea has an arsenal of 50 nuclear warheads and enough material to build 50 more. The fear is that this base could deploy the warheads to other parts of the country from where they would be fired. Victor Cha, co-author of the report, said North Korea chose the location, which is close to the Chinese border, to make it more difficult for US planes to destroy it. Kim Jong-un has recently called for a "rapid expansion" of North Korea's nuclear program. The study says the discovery of the base is part of the country's evolving strategy regarding ballistic missiles. It comes a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin did a deal with North Korean despot Kim Jong-un to recruit another 6,000 troops for his war in Ukraine. Ukrainian intelligence believes Kim Jong-un agreed to sell Putin another 100 tanks and even more armoured personnel carriers to bolster his assault on the frontline.
Western Telegraph
41 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Ukrainian refugee awarded special recognition for art GCSE
Liza Minenko, 16, fled Ukraine in 2022 with her family after spending two weeks in a basement in Kyiv after the war broke out. When her family arrived in the UK, Liza and her two siblings were given full scholarships by Brighton College. Liza Minenko and her siblings received full scholarships from the college when they arrived in the UK (Brighton College/PA) She said: 'I was nervous, but I am so happy. I have mixed feelings. I want to go back to Ukraine but we are all really scared to go back to Kyiv. 'I haven't seen my grandparents for years since the start of the war but I know they will be proud of what I have achieved today.' Liza received recognition from the Cambridge OCR exam board as one of the top performers in art in the country. She is planning to take art, maths, physics and chemistry at A-level. At an assembly marking the third year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February this year, Liza addressed the school. 'You need a lot of strength to live in a country that is in a state of war,' she said. 'You also need a lot of strength when you have to leave behind your home country and everything and everyone you know.' She is one of 23 Ukrainian refugees enrolled in scholarships at Brighton College, and her mother praised the school for their 'humanity, acceptance and warmth'. Also at the college, Nathanial Byng, 16, won a national award for achieving the highest mark in the country in his English Literature GCSE. The college said that both his parents are 'senior figures' in publishing, so he started reading at a young age.
North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Russia launches missile attack on Ukraine as Zelensky seeks security guarantees
The attack mostly targeted western regions of the country, the air force said, where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine's western allies is believed to be stored. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others, according to officials. It was Russia's third largest aerial attack this year in terms of the number of drones fired and the eighth-largest in terms of missiles, according to official figures. Most such Russian attacks have hit civilian areas. The strikes occurred during a renewed US-led effort to reach a peace settlement after Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbour. US President Donald Trump discussed the war with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, and at the start of this week hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House. Russia has fired nearly 1,000 long-range drones and missiles at Ukraine since the White House talks. Ukraine and European leaders have accused Mr Putin of stalling in peace efforts, including Ukraine's proposal of a ceasefire and Mr Zelensky's offer to sit down with the Russian leader. The Kremlin has reacted coolly to those possibilities. Mr Zelensky condemned the overnight attack, saying it was carried out 'as if nothing were changing at all'. Moscow has shown no sign of pursuing meaningful negotiations to end the war, the Ukrainian leader said as he urged the international community to respond with stronger pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and tariffs. Ukraine has kept up its own attacks with domestically produced long-range drones on infrastructure inside Russia that supports Moscow's war effort. It has hit oil refineries and Russian wholesale fuel prices have reached record highs in recent days. Almost all the overnight missiles were fired from inside Russia. They reached deep into western Ukraine, near the border with Hungary. Western parts of Ukraine are far from the battlefield's front line in the east and south of the country, where a grinding war of attrition has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides. In the western city of Lviv, one person was killed and three were injured as the attack damaged 26 residential buildings, a nursery school and administrative buildings, regional head Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram. The Regional Prosecutor's Office said three Russian cruise missiles with cluster munitions struck the city. Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia had struck a 'major American electronics manufacturer' in western Ukraine. He provided no further details but Mr Zelensky said the company produces domestic appliances. On Wednesday, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine will hold intensive meetings to understand what kind of security guarantees its allies are willing to provide. The details are being hammered out by national security advisers and military officials. The plans will become clearer within 10 days, the Ukrainian leader said, and he then expects to be ready to hold direct talks with Mr Putin for the first time since the full-scale invasion. The talks could be conducted in a trilateral format alongside Mr Trump, Mr Zelenskyy said. A venue for the meeting is being discussed, and Switzerland, Austria and Turkey are possibilities, the Ukrainian president added. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that working on security arrangements in Ukraine without Moscow's involvement was not feasible, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. Mr Zelensky said that in his meeting in the Oval Office on Monday he sought to convince Mr Trump that the battlefield situation was not as bad for Ukraine as Mr Putin portrayed. He pointed to errors in the US map of the front line which he said showed Russia holding more territory than it actually does.
