In a historic ruling, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared on Wednesday that Russia was directly responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which killed all 298 people on board in 2014. The Strasbourg-based court also issued damning judgments against Russia in multiple other cases tied to atrocities committed in Ukraine over the past decade, including war crimes during its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Flight MH17, a Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was struck by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. The court stated that overwhelming evidence showed the missile was intentionally launched at the aircraft—likely under the mistaken assumption that it was a military target.
Court president Mattias Guyomar emphasized that Russia’s continued denial of involvement and its refusal to investigate the tragedy violated international law and further deepened the anguish of the victims’ families. The UN’s aviation agency had already found Russia responsible for the disaster earlier this year, and the ECHR’s ruling further solidifies global legal consensus.
Beyond MH17, the court also held Russia accountable for murder, torture, rape, abductions, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure during its military operations in Ukraine. The 501-page ruling stated that Russian forces used sexual violence as a weapon of war and deliberately targeted civilians to spread fear and psychological terror.
“The use of rape as a weapon of war was an act of extreme atrocity that amounted to torture,” said Guyomar, who underscored that many of Russia’s actions served no military purpose and breached fundamental principles of humanitarian law.
Russia was also found to have kidnapped Ukrainian children and violated the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to participate in the legal proceedings. Although Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in 2022, the court retains jurisdiction over cases involving violations committed prior to its removal.
The court will determine potential financial compensation in a future ruling, though legal experts note that Russia’s refusal to recognize the judgment makes enforcement unlikely.
Asked about the ruling, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the court’s authority, stating: “We won’t abide by it; we consider it void.” Meanwhile, Ukraine called the judgment a “historic and unprecedented” legal victory, one that further validates international efforts to hold Russia accountable for its aggression.