The United Nations aviation agency found Russia accountable for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, it ruled on May 12, 2025
Nearly 11 years on from the crash of the 777 in eastern Ukraine, the council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which is based in Montreal, voted that the Russian Federation failed to uphold its obligations under international air law, which requires states to "refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight".
The ICAO council rendered this decision in a case initiated by the Netherlands and Australia in 2022 against the Russian Federation over the downing of flight MH17.
The flight was travelling between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot down over the Donbas region of Ukraine, during conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.
All 298 passengers and crew died as a result of the crash, with the majority of the flight's passengers being Dutch nationals.
This vote represents the first time in the ICAO’s history that its council has made a determination on the merits of a dispute between member states under the organisation’s “dispute settlement” mechanism.
"The decision is an important step towards establishing the truth and achieving justice and accountability for all victims of flight MH17, and their families and loved ones," Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a statement.
In 2022, a court in the Netherlands found three men guilty of murder for shooting down the passenger plane, finding that a Russian-made missile supplied from Russia and fired by an armed group under Russian control brought down the 777.
The men - two Russians and one Ukrainian - were found guilty in absentia and sentenced to life in jail. A third Russian was acquitted.
The Kremlin, through spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has reportedly criticised the ruling as “biased”, emphasising that Russia did not partake in the investigation.
This ruling also comes one day ahead of Malaysian Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim's visit to Moscow, where he and Russian President Vladamir Putin are expected to discuss politics and trade, in addition to exchanging views on “pressing” international and regional matters, the Kremlin stated.
The council stated that a formal decision document setting out the reasons of fact and law leading to the council’s conclusions will be issued at a later date.