Australia Will Ask Russia To Account For The Fall Of MH17

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong during a speech at the 78th Assembly of the United Nations in New York, USA, Friday (22/9/2023). (ANTARA/HO-UN Photo)

JAKARTA - Australia vowed to hold Russia accountable for the alleged crash of the MH17 aircraft.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the court's findings were firmly and convincingly establishing Russia responsible for the MH17 fall.

In 2022, a Dutch court sentenced three people to life, including Russian citizens Sergey Dubinskiy and Igor Girkin, as well as one Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, who was found guilty of causing the accident while another Russian, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted of all charges.

"We will not rest assured in our commitment to hold Russia accountable," said Wong, while speaking to the families of the victims in the Australian Parliament.

The MH17 flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. A total of 298 passengers were killed, including 196 Dutch nationals.

However, Moscow rejected the ruling and called it an "convex" decision announced under unprecedented pressure by the Dutch court and denied involvement in the jet crash.