# Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 **Status: stub — expand.** Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight shot down over separatist-held Donetsk oblast on **July 17, 2014**, killing all **298** aboard (283 passengers and 15 crew; 196 were Dutch). It was hit by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile during the [[Donbas War (2014-2022)]]. - **Sept 28, 2016** — the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team reported that the Buk launcher was brought in from Russia, fired from separatist-held ground, and returned to Russia. - **May 24, 2018** — the JIT named the launcher's unit: Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based in Kursk. - **Nov 17, 2022** — a Dutch court convicted three men in absentia of murder, including former Russian FSB officer Igor Girkin, the commander who had seized Sloviansk in April 2014; a fourth defendant was acquitted. - **May 12, 2025** — the ICAO Council found that "the Russian Federation is responsible for the downing of Flight MH17, in violation of the Chicago Convention." - **July 9, 2025** — the European Court of Human Rights unanimously found Russia responsible for the downing and the deaths. Russia has denied involvement throughout and floated a succession of alternative stories, making MH17 an early case study in [[Kremlin Disinformation]]. ## See also - [[Ukraine War Timeline]] · [[Donbas War (2014-2022)]] · [[Hybrid Warfare]]