The ICAO Council has ruled that Russia is responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.
In a statement issued late 12 May, the council found that Russia “failed to uphold its obligations under international air law” by using weapons against civil aircraft in flight.
The Boeing 777-200ER (9M-MRD) was operating MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17 July 2014, when it was shot down by a Russian-built Buk surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine. There were no survivors among the 298 passengers and crew.
ICAO said it agreed with claims brought by Australia and the Netherlands that Russia’s conduct “constitutes a breach” of international air law. There were 196 Dutch citizens and 38 Australian citizens on board the flight.
The ruling is the first time the UN’s aviation council is ruling on the merits of a dispute between member states under its dispute settlement mechanism.
“A formal decision document setting out the reasons of fact and law leading to the council’s conclusions will be issued at a future meeting,” ICAO adds.
Russia in 2016 disputed a Dutch investigation report into the incident, citing several contradictions and discrepancies.
In November 2022, a Dutch court convicted two Russian men and a Ukrainian man in absentia for their role in the accident. Russia also disputed the conviction, and refused to extradite its citizens.
