BRITAIN has backed international demands for Russia to be held accountable for the downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014, with Boris Johnson saying the incident showed “the Kremlin’s disregard for innocent life”.
All 298 people on board the passenger jet, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, were killed. Ten were UK nationals.
The Netherlands and Australia have now said they are holding Moscow legally responsible after international investigators concluded a missile fired at the plane came from a Russian military unit.
In a statement the Foreign Secretary said: “The Kremlin believes it can act with impunity. The Russian government must now answer for its actions in relation to the downing of MH17.
“The UK fully supports Australia and the Netherlands in their request to the Russian Federation to accept state responsibility, and to co-operate with them in their efforts to deliver justice for the victims of this tragedy.
“Instead of seeking to undermine the investigation through the deluge of disinformation we have seen from Russia about MH17 in the past, the Russian Federation must fulfil its obligations under UN Security Council resolution 2166 to provide any requested assistance to the investigation.
“To do otherwise would be a violation of the UN’s resolution, and to deny the families the justice they seek for their loved ones.”
The international investigation found the missile which brought down the airliner on July 17, 2014 belonged to the 53rd anti-aircraft military brigade of the Russian army.
Previous inquiries have concluded that it came from a Russian-made Buk missile system, launched from within territory held by Russian-backed separatist groups.
Dutch foreign minister, Stef Blok, said that following the conclusion, the Dutch government was “taking the next step by formally holding Russia accountable”.
He said: “The Netherlands and Australia today asked Russia to enter into talks aimed at finding a solution that would do justice to the tremendous suffering and damage caused by the downing of MH17.
“A possible next step is to present the case to an international court or organisation for their judgment.”
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, rejected the findings, saying Russia had been barred from taking part in the investigation.
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