On January 25, ECHR recognized the territory of the Donetsk region as occupied by Russian troops since May 11, 2014. This was one of the steps to bring Russia to justice for the destruction of the passenger liner on flight MH17. Among the 298 dead were 196 Dutch citizens. Ukraine and the Netherlands have joined forces for 6 years and contributed to the beginning of the case.
On March 20, 2020, the Hague court began considering the case of the plane crash. Further, the case was supplemented: the lawsuit of Ukraine against Russia, which occupied the Donetsk region, Ukraine against Russia for the abduction and deportation of orphans to Russia, the Netherlands against Russia for the downed Boeing. Based on the forensic evidence, PACE and the district court of the Hague stated that Boeing was shot down by a projectile from the Russian Buk. 3 perpetrators were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Last September, Russia withdrew from the European Convention on Human Rights, but the ECHR will continue to hold Russia accountable.
