London calls ICAO's decision to find Russia guilty of MH17 crash over Ukraine 'historic'

The UK Government has issued a statement following the outcome of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) hearing on the case of Flight MH17, Report informs.

"In a historic first, a clear majority of ICAO Council States decided that the Russian Federation breached Article 3bis of the Chicago Convention by using weapons against civil aircraft in flight, which led to the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in July 2014," the government said in a statement.

"Through this decision, the ICAO Council upholds respect for the Convention on International Civil Aviation and sets out important expectations in relation to the obligations on States to create safer skies and, moreover, that those who violate the rules set out under this Convention will be held to account. Most importantly, this decision helps secures justice for the families of the 298 people lost as a result of the downing of flight MH17, including 10 UK citizens, on 17 July 2014. It is also a salient reminder of Russia’s reckless and dangerous behaviour and its callous disregard for civilian lives," reads the statement.

The UK Government said this is the first time the ICAO Council has taken a decision on the merits of an ICAO international legal dispute in its 80-year history, "and the UK congratulates the clear leadership provided by ICAO to ensure the case was progressed robustly and transparently. The UK remains committed to supporting ICAO in its endeavours to uphold international law and to ensure our skies remain safe and secure."

The Chicago Convention is an international agreement, officially called the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed on December 7, 1944 in Chicago, USA. This document became the foundation for modern regulation of civil aviation worldwide.

Australia and the Netherlands, whose citizens made up the majority of those killed in the air disaster, filed a complaint against Russia with ICAO in March 2022. In June 2024, Russia announced that it was ceasing participation in the consideration of the complaint, as it does not recognize ICAO's competence in this case.

The international investigation team, which included representatives from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine, concluded that the plane was shot down by pro-Russian separatists using a Buk surface-to-air missile system that had been brought from Russia shortly before. A court in the Netherlands in November 2022 sentenced in absentia the former "Minister of Defense" of the unrecognized DPR Igor Strelkov and two other individuals to life imprisonment on charges of deliberate destruction of the aircraft and premeditated murder. One other defendant in the case was acquitted.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down over Ukraine in July 2014. As a result, 298 people died, including 10 British citizens, making this air disaster one of the ten deadliest in history.