The Netherlands spent €166 million to eliminate the consequences of the downed Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 by the Russians over the occupied part of the Donetsk region in 2014. They want to issue this bill to Russia.
The Netherlands is preparing a lawsuit against Russia regarding Boeing MH17
The Accounting Chamber stated that the investigation of the criminals cost 53 million euros. The Netherlands also spent 365 euros on cleaning the plush toys of the dead children.
The DeStentor reported on the words of Dutch PM Mark Rutte.
The government has asked the Accounting Chamber to prepare costs for assistance to the Netherlands in the state liability case against Russia.
It is currently under review by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The Netherlands and Australia brought the case to file a claim for damages against the Russians possibly.
The Accounting Chamber emphasises that this is an intermediate position; it will be updated yearly.
At least €16.5 million will be added for 2023. The state allocated this amount as compensation to the relatives of the victims.
This compensation was awarded because it is highly doubtful that criminals convicted by a Dutch court will ever actually pay this amount. Three men, two Russians and a Ukrainian, were sentenced to life imprisonment last year for involvement in the plane crash. They are not in prison, but are somewhere in Russia, the publication writes.
Rutte thanked the government for the report and called it a step towards justice.
This report may lead to a valid claim for compensation in the Netherlands vs. Russia lawsuit.
Mark Rutte
Dutch PM
MH17 crash in Donbas: what is known
On July 17, 2014, a Boeing 777 passenger airliner was shot down on the territory of Donetsk region captured by pro-Russian militants. All passengers and crew members, namely 298 people, died then.
The investigative commission established that the Boeing was shot down by a missile launched from the Buk anti-aircraft missile complex. He belonged to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Russian Federation stationed in Kursk. The air defence system was sent to Ukraine, where separatists and militants used it in battles against the Armed Forces.
As a result of the attack, 298 people died. Two-thirds of them are citizens of the Netherlands. Also on board were citizens of Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.
In 2022, the District Court of The Hague issued a verdict in the case of the MH17 passenger plane shot down in the sky over Donbas in 2014. Three defendants were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. One of them was former FSB employee Ihor Girkin.
The Telegraph wrote that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin personally approved the delivery of the Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine in 2014.
Budanov commented on the decision of the UN Court
The International Court of Justice of the United Nations recently ruled that Russia did not finance terrorists in eastern Ukraine before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as this only refers to the transfer of funds and does not extend to the supply of military equipment.
The decision of the UN International Court of Justice dated Jan. 31 in the case "Ukraine v. Russia" states that Russia cannot be recognised as a sponsor of terrorism since the Russian Buk air defence system, which killed 298 civilian passengers and crew members of the Boeing MH-17 in 2014, is weapons, not money.
This is a shame for the international judicial system, this court decision is a mistake and a disaster. Failure to recognize the obvious facts will have very important consequences, primarily for many civilised countries, the Defence Intelligece of Ukraine (DIU) Budanov said.
According to him, the corresponding decision of the Court creates serious risks:
“[It turns out] if the aggressor state gives [terrorist militants] air defense systems, but not money, and they shoot down a civilian Boeing, then, in principle, it will not be terrorism.
