Today, 17 November 2022, the District court of the Hague has found guilty and sentenced to the lifetime imprisonment of three persons responsible for shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014. As a consequence of this horrible crime all 298 innocent people on board, including 80 children, have lost their lives.

The verdicts of the Court are remarkable event in the context of the establishment of justice and the inevitability of punishment for commission of crimes. It became possible due to constant and methodological work of dozens of investigators and prosecutors of the Joint Investigation Team, including Ukrainian.

The verdicts are also a sign that those who have taken a decision and ordered a shoot-down of a civilian aircraft shall ultimately end up in the courtroom. The punishment of those perpetrators is inevitable.

Apart from individuals, the Russian Federation as a state shall be brought to account. The transfer of Buk-TELAR to terrorists is obvious breach of the international law, specifically, of the International Convention on Suppression of Financing of Terrorism. Such transfer of this deadly weapon to Ukraine is a key element of Ukraine’s case versus Russia in the International Court of Justice.

Ukraine will continue coordinating efforts with its partners to establish truth and justice for the victims of the MH17 tragedy, as well as for their families, who continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones.