UN Court clears Russia of financing terror in Ukraine, which led to Flight MH17 downing
After seven years, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has ruled in Russia's favour over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The case was brought by Ukraine, who alleged that Russia violated an anti-terrorism treaty by supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine with military aid and financing.
In its verdict, the ICJ ruled that Ukraine did not prove that Russia knew its financing would be used for the purposes of terrorism, even if its weaponry was used to shoot down the aircraft, killing innocent civilians. Russia will not have to pay damages in the case.
There was a glimmer of hope for Ukraine, even though ICJ rulings are generally binding, and not subject to appeal. Despite the anti-terrorism treaty prohibiting the financing of terrorism, the ICJ determined that Russia failed to adequately investigate Russian citizens suspected of funding terrorist activities in eastern Ukraine. The ICJ said Ukraine provided sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation into that issue.
Flight MH17 fell from the sky in pieces on July 17, 2014, nearly five months after Russia began its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and other territory in eastern Ukraine. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur, but crashed as it flew over the conflict areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
An international investigation determined the airplane was shot down by the Russian-backed separatists using a Russian military Buk surface-to-air missile. Ukraine filed the case at the ICJ in 2017, well before Russia intensified its invasion into the country in 2022. Russia denied being directly involved in that war and also said that the missile used to shoot MH17 out of the sky was not Russian.
Ukraine accused Russia of violating two international conventions regarding the financing of terrorism and racial discrimination. The country accused the Kremlin of the "illegal annexation" of Crimea and "illegal arms supply" of separatists and terrorists. A separate case was also filed regarding the allegations of discrimination against Ukrainians and Tatars in Crimea.
Ukraine filed its case, saying at the time it felt all other means had been exhausted, Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin said at the time. "For over two years we've tried to settle the conflict through negotiations, but Russia will not cease its human rights violations."
All 283 passengers on board MH17, and its 15 crew members, lost their lives that day. Among them were 196 Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysian citizens, 27 Australians, and people from Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada, and New Zealand. One British passenger was a dual citizen of South Africa.
The Dutch court system was eventually used to prosecute four people in the case, Alexander Dubinsky, Igor Girkin, Leonid Kharchenko, and Oleg Pulatov. Dubinsky, Girkin and Kharchenko were convicted in absentia and handed life sentences, while Pulatov was acquitted. He was the only one of the four who elected to be represented by attorneys in the case. Three of the four defendants are Russian, while Kharchenko is Ukrainian.
The preliminary results of an international investigation into the disaster concluded that the plane was shot down from within a separatist controlled area in the Ukraine. It was shot down with a Russian BUK missile system, which the investigators were able to track moving from the Russian border to the field from which MH17 was shot down, and then back again after the disaster.
The investigation tracked down the mobile Buk missile system vehicle believed to be used in the incident. The investigators then showed the vehicle moving from Russia, across the border into Ukraine, and to the field from which the missile that struck MH17 was fired. The vehicle then retreated back to Russia after the incident.
Russia has always denied responsibility, and called the investigation "biased and politically motivated." It said none of its missile systems ever crossed the border from Russia into Ukraine.
The International Court of Justice is the main judicial body within the United Nations and is located in the Peace Palace in the Hague. The court has 15 judges that rule on legal disputes between countries.