On this day – the 12th anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 by a russian army unit in eastern Ukraine – we remember the 298 innocent lives lost, including 38 Australians, and pay our deepest respects to their families and loved ones.
The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team, the District Court of the Hague, the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have all established russia’s responsibility for shooting down the plane.
The ECtHR also found russia responsible for the additional suffering caused to victims’ families through its continued denial and obstruction of the investigation.
The loss of Australian lives on MH17 forged a deep and painful bond between the Ukrainian and Australian communities. The same russian brutality that caused this tragedy in 2014 continues to inflict devastation, pain and suffering across Ukraine today.
Those who lost their lives on MH17 deserve justice, and russia must be held fully accountable – not only for this atrocity, but for its ongoing crimes in Ukraine, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Today, we hold close the families who lost loved ones on MH17, with our shared grief uniting us in a shared commitment to truth, justice, and peace.
#MH17 #JusticeForMH17 #StandWithUkraine #RussiaIsATerroristState
Image: Friends of Ukraine Canberra-Quenbeyan MH17 commemoration, 2024
