For the past 27 months, the families of all 298 passengers and crew who died when a Malaysia Airlines plane was brought down over eastern Ukraine have been seeking some form of justice. A report from a Dutch-led investigation panel of experts from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine has now detailed the events leading up to the downing of the aircraft, and it can at least allow those relatives an opportunity to know where to look to seek justice.
The report makes for compelling reading, detailing the events that allowed for a Buk surface-to-air mobile missile system to travel from Russia, across the international border into eastern Ukraine, and into the hands of pro-Russian separatists who had declared their own autonomous republics inside Ukraine, centred on the cities of Donetsk and Lugansk. If there is any comfort for those relatives, it’s to know that all those on board died pretty much instantaneously when the Boeing 777 was struck by a missile just behind the cockpit four hours after taking off from Amsterdam. Forensic analysis found blast and impact patterns there, and only one passenger was found to have been able to reach for an oxygen mask. If the impact of the Buk missile and its 75 kilograms of high explosive didn’t kill the passengers, the impact of the plane’s parts into the ground was unsurvivable.
Russia has always denied that it had any role to play in the incident. This report, however, contradicts that: Where else could a sophisticated mobile missile launch system come from? And how did the Buk system get into the hands of separatist rebels whose arsenal consisted mostly of light weaponry seized from police stations? Besides, corroborated witness testimony from multiple sources detailed the Buk’s travels.
This tragedy occurred as a direct consequence in a chain of events that stem in a linear pattern from Russia’s annexation of the Crimea from Ukraine in February 2014. When the west’s reaction was perceived as being weak, pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine were emboldened to follow suit, declaring independence in Donetsk.
This incident should also serve as a warning for civil aviation authorities and pilots to ensure that areas of conflict on the ground are avoided in the skies. It should also be a reminder that the conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to fester, and it’s incumbent on all parties to come to a long-term solution other than a long-term truce.
