Russia committed violations in Ukraine and was behind Flight MH17, Europe’s human rights court finds

Australian and Dutch investigators examine a piece of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane, near the village of Hrabove, Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in Aug. 1, 2014. (AP Photo, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Europe’s top human rights court delivered two rulings against Russia Wednesday, stating in the first ruling that Russia violated international law during the conflict in Ukraine, the first time an international court has found Moscow responsible for human rights abuses since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The court also ruled Russia was behind the downing of Flight MH17, the first time Moscow was named by an international court as being responsible for the 2014 tragedy that claimed 298 lives.

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg are ruling on four cases brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, encompassing a wide range of alleged human rights violations during the full-scale invasion since the start of the war, including the downing of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and kidnapping Ukrainian children.

Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court’s governing body expelled Moscow in 2022, following the full-scale invasion.

Families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.

“It’s a real step in understanding who was really responsible,” Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told The Associated Press.

The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.

In May, the U.N.’s aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.

The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, which is the continent’s foremost human rights institution. Russia was expelled from the council over Moscow’s invasion and war in Ukraine. However, the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion.

In 2023, the judges sided with Ukraine and the Netherlands in a challenge over jurisdiction, finding there was sufficient evidence to show areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels were “under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation,” including providing weapons, and giving political and economic support.

Wednesday’s rulings won’t be the last from the EHCR dealing with the war. Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.

The decisions in Strasbourg are separate from a criminal prosecution in the Netherlands in which two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel were convicted in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of Flight MH17.

In 2022, the United Nations’ top court ordered Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine while a case is heard, a process that takes years. Russia has flouted the order by the International Court of Justice.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally approved plans to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Schansman, who has also brought an individual case to the ECHR, has no plans to stop pursuing justice, more than a decade after his son’s death. “The worst thing we could to is stop fighting,” he told the AP. “MH17 is not a case that will disappear for Russia.”

Molly Quell, The Associated Press