Russia’s claims MH17 victims are in eastern Ukraine

Human rights judges have said cases against Russia for the shooting down of flight MH 17 and other alleged war crimes can proceed to trial, as they ruled that separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine were under the control of the Russian Federation.

During the war in Donbas, all 298 people onboard the Malaysian airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed when it was shot down by a Russian surface-to- air missile over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The Netherlands, whose citizens accounted for 196 of those killed, wants to bring a case against Russia for violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to the atrocity.

On Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia had effective control over separatist areas in eastern Ukraine from May 11, 2014 to January 26th, 2022. The judges cited Russia's military presence in the region, its influence over separatists military strategy, the supply of weapons and military equipment to them, as well as political support.

The events that took place prior to that date was irrelevant, as Russia ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights in September.

The Dutch justice minister, Dilan Ye ilg z-Zegerius, said: "Very good news: The judgment of the European court of human rights is another important step in finding the truth and justice for the victims and their relatives of flight. The Strasbourg court reached the same conclusions in relation to the applications by the government of Ukraine in relation to the conflict in Donbas, including alleged unlawful military attacks against civilians and torture of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers. The judges said that whether complaints about the bombing and shelling of areas outside separatist and effective Russian control could fall within Russian jurisdiction would need to be examined at trial.

There are about 8,500 individual applications pending in relation to events in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, the Sea of Azov and the invasion by Russia in February 2022, according to them.

A Dutch court found three men guilty of the murder of 298 people on board MH 17 in November last year. The Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy and a Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko were handed life sentences but are still at large.