ECHR rejects MH17 relatives’ case against Ukraine over airspace closure

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected complaints filed by relatives of three victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, who alleged that Ukraine failed to close its airspace over eastern Ukraine during active hostilities in July 2014.

The applicants argued that Ukrainian authorities should have been aware that Russian-backed forces possessed weapons capable of striking a civilian aircraft flying above 10,000 metres. They maintained that, given the intensity of the armed conflict and knowledge of Russia’s military arsenal, Kyiv should have taken steps to shut down the airspace over the combat zone, Caliber.Az reports per Ukrainian media. 

In its decision, the Strasbourg-based court found the applications inadmissible, ruling that the complainants had not exhausted available domestic legal remedies in Ukraine. The court noted that Ukrainian law permits foreign nationals to bring cases before domestic courts. It also pointed out that investigations into aviation safety and the circumstances surrounding the downing of MH17 had been carried out both by Ukrainian authorities and by the Dutch Safety Board.

The ECHR further stated that it could not be established with certainty whether Ukraine’s civil aviation authorities should have been aware of the presence of a Buk surface-to-air missile system in the hands of armed formations of the unrecognised “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR). The court added that it would be speculative to assess whether Ukrainian authorities should have known about the operational capabilities or radar limitations of the system allegedly used.

Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

On November 17, 2022, the District Court of The Hague convicted Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko in absentia of murder for their role in the downing of the aircraft, sentencing them to life imprisonment and ordering their arrest.

The court also ordered them to pay more than €16 million in compensation to victims’ relatives. In its ruling, the Dutch court determined that Russia exercised control over the DPR at the time of the incident.

In 2025, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) formally confirmed Russia’s responsibility for the disaster.

By Sabina Mammadli