In 1991, the Soviet Union fell. In 1999, Vladimir Putin came to power with a longing to restore the imperial Russian empire of old. In 2014, the autocratic Putin used Russian forces to invade and annex the Crimean Peninsula in the south of Ukraine. In the same year, the territorial-hungry Russian despot sought to further destabilise Ukraine by igniting conflict in its Donbas region through his support of separatist forces.
It was this chain of events over 23 years which tragically led to 298 innocent people losing their lives in the sky above eastern Ukraine ten years ago today.
On 17 July 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 took off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport at 12:31 local time heading for Kuala Lumpur International Airport. On board were 283 passengers and 15 crew from 10 different countries. Among the passengers were 38 Australian citizens and residents – children, women and men.
About three hours into its almost 12-hour flight, contact was lost with the aircraft. Cruel and unfathomable disaster had struck. A Buk surface-to-air missile, fired from a farm field by Russian separatists at the Boeing 777, exploded to the left of its cockpit causing the plane to break-up at 33,000 feet. MH17 was one of 160 flights in the airspace above eastern Ukraine that day. Three commercial flights were in the same vicinity as MH17 at the time of its crash.
Technical and criminal investigations followed in the wake of the catastrophe. On 17 November 2022, the District Court of The Hague handed down its judgement on the criminal case. It sentenced three pro-Russian separatist soldiers – Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Leonid Kharchenko – to life imprisonment having found them guilty of the murder of the 298 people on board.
The District Court made important conclusions about the intent of the accused and wider Russian involvement:
“… although it appears that the Buk missile was launched intentionally, this was done so in the belief that the target aircraft in question was military and not civil… Nevertheless, an error of this kind does not detract from the intent and the premeditation.”
“… the Russian Federation gave the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) financial assistance, provided and trained troops and supplied arms and other goods… from mid-May 2014 onwards, and also on 17 July 2014, an international armed conflict was taking place on the territory of Ukraine between Ukraine and the DPR, in which the DPR was controlled by the Russian Federation.”
The Dutch-led, multi-national Joint Investigation Team, which included Australians, concluded:
“The investigation produced strong indications that a decision on providing the Buk TELAR – or in any event a heavier air defence system with a higher range – to the DPR was taken at presidential level.”
Ten years on from the tragedy of MH17, time has not diminished the pain for those whose loved ones were on board that ill-fated flight. For many families and friends who lost those dearest to them, feelings of anger have understandably not subsided with the guilty parties yet to be arrested, to serve prison time, or to pay compensation to the relatives of the deceased.
Etched in our national consciousness are the heartbreaking images which appeared in the news following the downing of MH17. Amidst wreckage and burning fuselage strewn over an area of 50 square kilometres was luggage including travel guides, postcards to loved ones, passports, an “I ❤ Amsterdam” t-shirt, and children’s teddy bears – a reminder of both the beautiful lives which were extinguished on that day and the brutality of Putin’s regime which endures to this day.
In speaking about the Russian regime’s inhumanity and in honouring the memories of the victims of MH17 when he addressed the Australian Parliament in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the powerful and poignant point, “How many more new tragedies has Russia created or will create?”
The MH17 disaster remains one of greatest losses of Australian lives in civil aviation history.
On this 10th anniversary of the MH17 tragedy, and on behalf of the Coalition, I express my heartfelt condolences to those families who were robbed of their loved ones in the most distressing and disgraceful circumstances. As you remember and grieve, our nation remembers and grieves with you.
We recall the profound words of Prime Minister Tony Abbott:
“When those we love are snatched away, nothing can ease the pain. Somehow, we who have not been bereaved must reach out to those who have and show, by our love, that love has not abandoned them. You have not been abandoned and you never will be.”
On this 10th anniversary of the MH17 atrocity, I also commend and thank the hundreds of Australians who in the days, months and years which followed the MH17 disaster worked to support the families of the victims and to advance the cause of justice.
Appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston (Retired) led an Australian team of civil servants, officials, police officers, military personnel and investigators under Operation Bring Them Home who identified, recovered and repatriated the remains of the Australians murdered.
I also acknowledge Tony Abbott whose leadership in those dark days for the affected families and our nation was one of his finest hours as our 28th Prime Minister. He captured the sentiment of our nation when he said:
“We cannot resolve the mystery of needless suffering and death, but we can armour ourselves against despair by responding to evil with good – unconquerable good.”
Despite changing times and despite changing Australian governments, a united and bipartisan resolve remains to bring the perpetrators to justice.
17 July 2024
In Memoriam
(As listed on the MH17 National Memorial plaque in the grounds of Parliament House)
| Wayne John Baker | Gabriele Lauschet | Albert Rizk |
| Theresa Jennifer Baker | Mona Cheng Sim Lee | Maree Elizabeth Rizk |
| Emma Maree Bell | Why Keong (Gary) Lee | Arjen Tromp Ryder |
| Carol Clancy | Edel Mahady | Yvonne Birgitte Ryder |
| Michael (Mick) Clancy | Evie Coco Anne Maslin | (née Van Der Mooren) |
| Liam Patrick Davison | Mo Robert Anderson Maslin | Helena Maria Sidelik |
| Francesca Louise Davison | Otis Samuel Frederick Maslin | Elaine Teoh Ee Ling |
| Liliane Delfina Derden | Nicoll (Nick) Charles Anderson Norris | Emiel Roland Mahler |
| Fatima Dyczynski | Mary (MER) Elizabeth Menke | Philomene Tiernan RSCJ |
| Marco Grippeling | Gerardus (GER) Frederik Menke | Hans van den Hende |
| Jill Helen Guard | Dafne Nieveen | Shaliza van den Hende-Dewa |
| Roger Watson Guard | Jack Samuel O’Brien | Piers van den Hende |
| Howard Ramon Horder | Victor Oreshkin | Marnix van den Hende |
| Susan Marilyn Horder | Margaux van den Hende |
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