The conflict between the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed rebels has brought much bloodshed over the past 18 months. No single event has been as startling as the shooting down one year ago of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Some 298 people were killed, two-thirds of them Dutch nationals. Today there has still been little progress bringing the perpetrators of this event to justice.
The reasons for the crash are fiercely contested between western governments and the Russian authorities. The west believes that the plane was shot down with a Russian supplied anti-aircraft BUK missile system, controlled either by the rebels or by Russian soldiers. There is considerable evidence pointing to this, based on radio intercepts, photographic and video material. But Moscow rejects the claim, arguing that the plane was hit by a missile fired from a Ukrainian fighter jet.
The best hope for establishing exactly what did happen lies with two investigations by the Dutch authorities that are yet to conclude. One by the Dutch Safety Board is set to be published in October but is focused solely on establishing the technical cause of the crash and will not ascribe blame. The national prosecutor in the Netherlands is leading a separate international criminal investigation to establish culpability, but there is no indication when it will finally report.