Russia has withdrawn from the dispute with Australia and the Netherlands regarding the downing of MH17

Russia stops participating in the dispute with Australia and the Netherlands regarding the case of the MH17 crash in July 2014. The dispute was reviewed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation says that Moscow does not recognize the competence of the ICAO Council, does not agree with its decision and claims that it was not given the opportunity to fully participate in the technical investigation.

"We are ending our participation in this farce. Russia does not recognize the competence of the Council to consider the objections of Australia and the Netherlands, as well as any decisions it makes related to them," the RF statement explains.

In March 2022, Australia and the Netherlands initiated proceedings against Russia at the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. They stated that the Russian Federation violated Article 3 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 (Chicago Convention), which obliges to refrain from using weapons against civil aircraft.

What is known about flight MH17

On July 17, 2014, a passenger plane of the Malaysia Airlines company MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Russian-made Buk anti-aircraft missile system near the occupied Torez of the Donetsk region. 298 people died.

On November 17, 2022, the District Court of The Hague, considering the case of the downing of the airliner MH17 in 2014, found Igor Girkin (call sign "Strelkov"), his subordinates Serhiy Dubinsky (call sign "Khmury") and Leonid Kharchenko (call sign "Krot") guilty of destroying the flight "). Oleg Pulatov (call sign "Gyurza") was acquitted. Russia and the convicts deny their involvement in the disaster.