Moscow replies to UN aviation organization`s MH17 vote
(MENAFN) Russia has strongly denied responsibility for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, dismissing the recent vote by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council as politically biased. The Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated on Tuesday that Moscow had no involvement in the tragedy and that allegations by Australia and the Netherlands were unfounded.
The ICAO Council had determined that Russia violated its obligations by allegedly using weapons against a civilian aircraft. In response, Russia accused the Dutch-led investigation of being politically motivated and reliant on dubious evidence, particularly from Ukrainian sources.
MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, most of whom were from the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Australia. The incident occurred amid intense fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists in the Donbass region following the 2014 coup in Kiev. The self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, involved in the conflict, later voted to join Russia in 2022.
In 2015, the investigation team – which included the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium, and Ukraine – claimed a Soviet-era Buk missile system provided by Russia was responsible. Moscow denied supplying such weapons and maintained that the type of missile used was in service with Ukrainian forces. Russia also objected to being excluded from the probe and criticized the process for lacking transparency.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said ICAO disregarded substantial evidence Russia provided to prove its non-involvement. It also criticized the reliance on anonymous witnesses and materials from the Ukrainian Security Service, which it claimed was biased. Moscow further argued that Ukraine bore ultimate responsibility for the disaster, having launched a military campaign in Donbass under what it described as a false narrative of counter-terrorism.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added that since Russia was excluded from the investigation, it does not recognize its findings, calling them one-sided and unjust.
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