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Australia pledged Thursday to hold Russia to account over the 2014 downing of a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet over Ukraine, after an international team halted its investigation into the disaster.
The six-country investigation team announced that there were “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally agreed to provide the missile that shot down flight MH17, but the investigation was halted because “compelling evidence” could not be found.
The Boeing 777 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said Thursday that Russia had repeatedly tried to thwart the investigation, making it “impossible” to gather evidence.
And they stressed that Australia “will hold Russia accountable for its role in shooting down the civilian plane.”
The case brought by Australia and the Netherlands against Russia with the International Civil Aviation Organization is ongoing, but the UN agency has limited powers.
Last November, a Dutch court convicted three men in absentia for their role in the disaster, the Russians Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinsky, and the Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, but it is unlikely that they will be arrested.
Russia has denied any involvement in the disaster and dismissed the court ruling last year as “scandalous” and politically motivated.
The families of the victims expressed their disappointment at the decision to stop the investigation.
