On July 17, 2014, one of the most tragic air disasters in the modern history of international civil aviation occurred. The passenger plane MH17, following a route between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over territories occupied by pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of Ukraine.
The official investigation unequivocally establishes that the flight was destroyed by a Buk anti-aircraft missile system, owned by the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk. The value of the military equipment used amounts to approximately 15 million dollars.
The human loss is devastating - a total of 298 innocent citizens from different countries lost their lives. Among the deceased were 193 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 British, 4 Germans, 4 Belgians, as well as representatives from the Philippines, Canada, and New Zealand.
The International Court in The Hague officially convicted three Russian citizens in absentia in 2022 for murder and a terrorist act. Russian state media continue to spread alternative versions, including absurd claims that the plane was full of corpses or shot down by a Ukrainian fighter.
Despite attempts to cover up, the investigation unambiguously proves Russian involvement in this tragedy, which remains a painful mark on contemporary international diplomacy.