Kremlin rejects ICAO ruling holding Russia responsible for downing of Boeing aircraft over Ukraine

Russia considers the results of the investigation into the crash of the Malaysian Boeing 777 aircraft in 2014 to be biased and does not accept them, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

According to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Netherlands, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) found Russia responsible for the crash of the passenger plane and the violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“I am not going to comment on this. Our position is well known. Russia was not a party that took part in the investigation of this incident. Therefore, we do not accept any biased conclusions,” the Kremlin representative said.

Peskov's remarks come amid the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) declaring Russia responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region in July 2014.

ICAO's Council concluded that Russia violated the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, specifically the provision that prohibits the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.

In the coming weeks, the Council is expected to deliberate on how Russia should compensate for the damages resulting from the incident.

Australia and the Netherlands filed a formal complaint to ICAO in March 2022, as their citizens comprised the majority of the 298 victims. In June 2024, Russia withdrew from the proceedings, stating that it did not recognise ICAO's jurisdiction over the case.

An international joint investigation team—consisting of representatives from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine—previously concluded that the aircraft was shot down by pro-Russian separatists using a Buk surface-to-air missile system transported from Russia.

In November 2022, a Dutch court sentenced in absentia the former defence minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Igor Girkin (also known as Igor Strelkov), and two others to life imprisonment on charges of deliberately downing the aircraft and the premeditated murder of those on board. A fourth suspect was acquitted.

Flight MH17, a Boeing 777 operated by Malaysia Airlines, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down. The tragedy is among the ten deadliest aviation disasters in history.

By Khagan Isayev