The United Nations’ Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has ruled that Russia is responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, which killed all 298 people on board, including citizens of the Netherlands and Australia.
In its ruling, ICAO said that the Russian Federation violated the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as Chicago Convention, which obligates states to “refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.”
Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It was struck by a Russian-made Buk missile over eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists were fighting Ukrainian forces.
A Dutch-led investigation in 2016 found the missile system had been supplied by Russia and returned there after the attack.
This is the first time the ICAO Council, which represents 193 member states, has ruled on a dispute between countries. Although ICAO has no enforcement power, meaning it cannot impose sanctions or compel compliance, its decisions carry considerable weight in international aviation. Member states are expected to respect and uphold its rulings.
“This decision is an important step toward establishing the truth and achieving justice and accountability for all victims of Flight MH17,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp. He also said the Council will soon consider reparations and called on ICAO to oversee the process to ensure Russia negotiates in good faith.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also welcomed the ruling and called for swift action on compensation. “We call on Russia to finally face up to its responsibility,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the ruling biased, saying that Russia had not taken part in the investigation. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the Council’s decision was not legitimate and blamed the Ukrainian government for the incident.
The ICAO Council is expected to take up the issue of reparations in the coming weeks.
