MH17 victims honoured at Ukraine crash site memorial 10 years on as Moscow denies responsibility

Victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash were remembered on Wednesday during a service at the crash site in eastern Ukraine 10 years on.  

The Boeing 777 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on 17 July 2014 when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine during the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. 

All 298 people onboard died — they were citizens of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania, Canada, the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Africa. 

In the village of Hrabove, residents laid flowers and toys at the memorial service, honouring the crash victims. 

Some of them could not hold back their tears, remembering the day of the tragedy. 

“We were at home and there was such a noise. First a hum, then a boom, such a strong blow,” said Natalya Petrova, a local resident and crash witness. 

“I feel sorry for the people. Let God punish them. God will punish those who did this,” she said, holding back tears. 

An international investigation established that a Buk missile fired from a launcher that was trucked into Ukrainian separatist-held territory from a Russian military base and then driven back to Russia caused the flight to crash.

Investigators said it came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces based in Kursk backing the separatists of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic. 

In November 2022, after a trial that lasted more than two years, a Dutch court convicted Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, known as Strelkov, and another Russian and a pro-Russian Ukrainian in absentia of murder for their roles in transporting the missile. 

They were given life prison sentences but remain at large because Russia refused to surrender them to face trial. One other Russian was acquitted.  

Moscow continues to deny any responsibility for the incident.