Press release on Russia's appeal to the International Court of Justice over ICAO's ruling on the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17
18 September 2025 20:36
1496-18-09-2025
On September 18, 2025, acting in accordance with Article 84 of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention), the Russian Federation appealed the decision of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which has put the blame for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on Russia.
ICAO's first ever attempt to settle a dispute between the signatories of the Chicago Convention on its merits has failed. This was to be expected in a situation when the key points of the ruling were tailored to the prearranged decision, when the council accepted the position of one side and disregarded or distorted the arguments of the other side, violating its own procedure and adopting the decision for time-serving political reasons. Contrary to the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2166, the ICAO Council did not consider it necessary to carry out a comprehensive, thorough and independent international investigation of the crash, instead taking at faith value the highly questionable conclusions of the technical and criminal investigation carried out under the auspices of an interested party, the Netherlands, and on the basis of adulterated facts that were mostly provided by another interested party, Ukraine.
Therefore, Russia is appealing the ICAO Council's decision on all grounds, including on grounds of jurisdiction, applicable law, factual findings, and fatal procedural violations. The fact of the appeal in no way amounts to Russia's legitimisation or recognition of the ICAO Council's actions in this case, which Russia previously declared to be void.
We hope that the International Court of Justice will take an entirely impartial stance on this high-profile case.
More than 11 years have passed since the tragedy of Flight MH17, but it appears that the path towards truth could take even longer. The ICAO Council's decision has been appealed and consequently has not come into effect. This will be a huge disappointment for The Hague and Canberra, which have already demanded compensation from Russia based on the result of the ICAO Council's pseudo-legal actions, and have likely prepared to slander Russia at the 42nd Session of the ICAO Assembly, which will begin in Montreal on September 23.
Russia will continue to pursue the truth in accordance with its obligations under the UN Charter and applicable norms of international law.
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