Europe’s top human rights court issued two landmark rulings against Russia on Wednesday, holding the country responsible for violations of international law during the war in Ukraine and directly linking it to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.
It marks the first time an international court has formally found the Kremlin guilty of human rights abuses since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is also the first official legal acknowledgment of Russia’s responsibility for the 2014 air disaster that killed all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch citizens.
The rulings came from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), based in Strasbourg, in response to four cases filed by Ukraine and the Netherlands. The cases involve a wide range of alleged violations, including the abduction of Ukrainian children during the war and the missile attack on flight MH17.
While the court’s decisions are largely symbolic—Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine—they represent a significant step for the families of MH17 victims in their long pursuit of justice.
“This is a valuable step toward understanding who was truly responsible,” Thomas Schansman told The Associated Press. Schansman lost his 18-year-old son, Quinn, in the tragedy.
Flight MH17, a Boeing 777 traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17, 2014, by a Russian-made Buk missile launched from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists. All passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch nationals.
In May, the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also held Russia responsible for the disaster.
Despite Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe and the ECHR, the court retains jurisdiction over cases related to incidents that occurred prior to the country’s removal. In 2023, the ECHR had already ruled there was sufficient evidence to conclude that separatist-held areas in eastern Ukraine were effectively under Russian control, due to Moscow’s military, political, and economic support.
Wednesday’s rulings are unlikely to be the last. Ukraine has other pending cases against Russia at the ECHR, and nearly 10,000 individual complaints have been filed by Ukrainian citizens.
The Strasbourg rulings come amid broader international efforts to hold Russia accountable. In 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—the United Nations’ top judicial body—ordered Russia to halt its military operations in Ukraine, a directive Moscow has defied. Just last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally endorsed plans to establish a new international tribunal to prosecute senior Russian officials over the full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile, a Dutch court has already sentenced, in absentia, two Russian nationals and one Ukrainian separatist for their role in the MH17 attack.
