The Netherlands considered the option of military intervention when MH17 was shot down in Donbas

The Dutch authorities were seriously considering the possibility of military intervention in the crash site of the Malaysian Boeing flight MH17, which was shot down by militants over Donbas in 2014.

Newly appointed Prime Minister Dick Schoof and former Chief of Defense Staff of the Netherlands Armed Forces Tom Middendorp said this in an interview with NOS.

"It was a very real option. There was a willingness to take on this responsibility, which was also present in the Council of Ministers," says Middendorp.

He said that then Australian special forces flew to the Netherlands and trained together with their Dutch colleagues.

Schoof chaired the MH17 crisis committee in 2014 as the national counter-terrorism and security coordinator.

He noted that "it could be done" — the option of military intervention was indeed developed and tested. But he also emphasizes that this was a last resort.

“In the end, you restore peace together. Therefore, I do not believe that the decision would have been made in an emotional mood: we are going to deploy soldiers,” added Schoof.

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. All 298 people on board 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.