Ambassador of Ukraine on MH17 catastrophe: The issue of not closing the sky has ended
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The Flight Safety Foundation's report on completing an additional study of the facts on non-closure of airspace over eastern Ukraine at the time of the downing of MH17 flight set the record straight on the closure of the sky on the day of the crash.
The Ambassador of Ukraine to the Netherlands Vsevolod Chentsov said this in a comment to Ukrinform in the Hague.
"An additional fact-finding study, which is important, in particular, for the relatives of the victims, was called to set the record straight in the issue of closing the sky on the day of the tragedy. Ukraine was sympathetic to this sensitive topic and cooperated in the full fact-finding study, although it had already provided relevant information on this issue in the technical investigation.
The results presented in the report confirm the conclusions made earlier. This is reflected in the cover letter of Foreign Minister Stef Blok to parliament. Accordingly, for Ukraine and the entire world community, it's a confirmation that our state adhered to the existing norms and rules at that time, and acted under the information available to the competent authorities. The position of the Government of the Netherlands is that there are no grounds to prosecute Ukraine, following the results of the technical investigation, and it has been confirmed before and now. The report released on February 5 allows to dispel doubts, if they remain, and move forward in the case of bringing the perpetrators to justice," Chentsov said.
He also noted that the report was prepared in addition to the technical investigation, which also covered the issue of airspace closure, and the Security Council of the Netherlands presented its results in October 2015.
"The report presented now focuses exclusively on the issue of closing the sky, and it's based on the most detailed information on this issue. This information indicates that Ukraine acted under the standards applicable at the time. And the Dutch government made relevant conclusions based on this information," he stressed.
The Parliament of the Netherlands has published a report on the completion of an additional study of the facts on non-closure of airspace over eastern Ukraine at the time of the downing of the MH17 flight.
The Flight Safety Foundation report states that there are no facts that could indicate that those responsible for civil aviation safety in Ukraine were aware or could have known that there was a threat to civil aviation safety over eastern Ukraine. Therefore, the Dutch government sees no reason to reconsider its previous position, namely the lack of convincing legal evidence to bring Ukraine to justice under international law for incomplete closure of airspace.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly stated that Ukraine complied with ICAO rules in force at the time and, based on an analysis of the risks involved, reported armed conflict and imposed bans on civil aviation. At first, it was impossible to fly lower than one and a half kilometers, then, below 7900 meters. On July 14, 2014, Ukraine imposed a ban on flying below 9,800 meters.
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 flying MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was downed by the Russian armed forces over the occupied Donbas on July 17, 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board, all of whom died.
