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Russia shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, the United Nations aviation agency has said.
All 298 people on board the passenger plane were killed when it was shot down by a Russian-made missile.
The Kremlin has always denied involvement in the accident.
On Monday, the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council voted to decide that Russia had failed to fulfill its obligations under international airspace law, which requires countries to “refrain from using weapons against civil aircraft in flight”.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in the Donbas region of Ukraine, during the conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops.
Most of the passengers and crew, 196, were from the Netherlands.
There were also 38 people from Australia, 10 British citizens, as well as Belgian and Malaysian citizens on the plane.
The case to the United Nations was filed in 2022 by the governments of Australia and the Netherlands, both of which are pleased with the decision.
“We call on Russia to finally face its responsibility for this horrific act of violence and pay reparations for its egregious behavior,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.
In 2022, a Dutch court ruled that a Russian-controlled group shot down the plane and two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian were found guilty of murder in absentia.
All three were sentenced to life in prison, however, since they were not extradited, they have not served any of the sentence.
By: BBC
