Europe’s top human rights court has ruled that Russia violated international law in Ukraine, marking the first time an international court has found Moscow responsible for human rights abuses since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights also ruled on Wednesday that Russia was behind the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17), the first time Moscow was named by an international court as being responsible for the 2014 tragedy that killed 298 people.
Judges at the Strasbourg court are ruling on four cases brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, encompassing a wide range of alleged human rights violations relating to the conflict, including the downing of MH17 and the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court’s governing body expelled Russia in 2022, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
But families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist Moscow-aligned rebels. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens. In May, the United Nations’ aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.
The court’s ruling comes after Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones overnight.
On Wednesday, Ukraine said eight civilians were killed in Russian drone and bombing attacks in the war-scarred Donetsk region in the east of the country – five in the town of Rodynske and three in the town of Kostiantynivka.
Credit: aljazeera.com
