SYDNEY: Australia vowed Wednesday to hold Russia to account for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 ten years ago that killed nearly 300 people.
On July 17, 2014 the Boeing 777 — en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur – was shot down by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine.
All 298 people aboard were killed, including 38 Australians.
Australia will “not be deterred in our commitment to hold Russia to account,“ Foreign Minister Penny Wong told bereaved relatives and dignitaries at a memorial service at parliament in Canberra.
“I recommit our collective pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for the outrages perpetrated on the 17th of July, 2014,“ she said.
“Grief never fully leaves us but time and love can lessen its weight.”
Names of the dead Australians were read out at the memorial service as family members placed golden flowers on a wreath, many pausing for a moment or wiping away tears.
A Dutch court has sentenced in absentia three men to life imprisonment for their roles in downing the plane over separatist-held pro-Russian territory during the early stages of a war that saw Moscow seize the Crimean peninsula.
Australia and the Netherlands have an ongoing case against Russia with the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency with limited enforcement powers.
Russia has denied any involvement in the incident.
Paul Guard, who lost his parents on the flight, said the past 10 years had been a “long road” and he wanted Russia to admit responsibility.
“I’ve always put the main blame of the tragedy on the conflict itself. I don’t think anyone intended to bring down a passenger plane,“ he told national broadcaster ABC.
