Victims Call for Justice Three Years After MH17 Shot Down by Russian Missile
An international criminal probe has concluded that the missile was fired from rebel-controlled territory by a mobile launcher trucked in from Russia
A Dutch father is pleading for those who shot down a Malaysia Airlines jet over Ukraine to be punished, as he mourns his two children and in-laws killed in the disaster.
At an emotional ceremony marking three years since MH17 was shot down, Evert van Zijtveld said victims' families "shall not give up and shall not be silenced until those who are responsible have been brought to justice."
Speaking to relatives and friends of the 298 victims of the crash, Van Zijtveld said the loss of his 19-year-old daughter Frederique and 18-year-old son Robert-Jan "left a hole in our hearts."
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He and other families spoke at a new memorial near the Amsterdam airport from which the plane departed. Van Zijtveld said, "Our loved ones together went on a journey on July 17, 2014, and this memorial forest symbolically unites them again."
An international criminal probe has concluded that the missile was fired from rebel-controlled territory by a mobile launcher trucked in from Russia. The U.S. State Department has also insisted Russia is the blame for the jet's dowing, but Russia has denied involvement.
The still unresolved downing of MH17 stirs powerful emotions and geopolitical animosity towards Russia as op-eds from across the international media condemned Russia on the three-year anniversary of the jetliner's destruction. The Gaurdian published an article titled, "There will be no justice for Flight MH17 until we contain Russian financial power," while the Daily Beast published, "Before Putin Helped Trump, He Murdered 300 in the Sky."