President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine
Below is the text of President Petro Poroshenko’s address on the first anniversary of the Malaysia Airlines disaster. It was released on July 17.
Exactly one year ago, a regular passenger Boeing 777 of Malaysia Airlines – Flight MH17 – was on route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Two hundred eighty-three passengers. Fifteen members of the crew. Citizens of 10 countries. Eighty children, three of them toddlers under the age of 2. Doctors, scientists, politicians, civil activists. Daughters, sons, grandfathers and grandmothers, spouses.
Unfortunately, this civilian aircraft and 298 people on board became a target of a ruthless terrorist attack, launched from a territory occupied by the Russian-backed militants in the east of Ukraine. A highly technological weapon, with which the aircraft was shot, could have come into hands of the terrorists only from Russia. It would not have happened without participation, without a direct order from the highest political and military leadership of the neighboring state. Exactly a year ago, the camouflage of the ugly hybrid war launched against Ukraine was taken off.
The Ukrainian people took this catastrophe as a personal tragedy. A year ago, thousands of people all over Ukraine expressed their definite protest against the terrorists. Ukrainians voiced support and sincere condolences to families and beloved ones of the victims. With tears in their eyes, they brought flowers and toys to Embassies of the Netherlands and other countries who suffered most. Today our people recall this tragedy and share the grief and sorrow of the families who lost their loved ones.
Hardly anyone can feel for the families of the victims of the MH17 flight more than Ukrainians. Due to Russia’s aggression, we have thousands of Ukrainians who lost their lives, thousands of people have been wounded. Many Ukrainian cities and villages are destroyed. More than a million and a half Ukrainians had to leave their homes and flee for safety.
We believe that we have enough strength to stand against the enemy. With support from all free nations of the world, we have enough strength to overcome it. The bits of the Donbas, the entire Crimea – will be back, in Ukraine. We will resurrect everything that has been destroyed, we will mend our wounds. And in the fields of the Ukrainian village of Hrabove there will be a memorial to the 298 innocent victims of the barbarian act of terrorism which took place a year ago. A memorial to the victims of a crime. A crime, which not only needs to be investigated but punished.
Our moral duty to honor the memory of the fallen ones is to ensure a fair punishment for those guilty in downing the aircraft. This crime represents a threat to the whole international community. Justice has to be restored and the readiness to defend basic values to be demonstrated. This is an act of atrocity that can’t be forgiven by anyone in the modern world.
Recently, together with Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and the Netherlands, Ukraine asked the U.N. Security Council to establish an international criminal tribunal on those responsible for crimes connected to the downing of the aircraft. Just as in the course of the past year, Ukraine is ready to continue to provide all the support [and] information necessary to bring those responsible to justice.
A year ago we made an oath that those responsible for the tragedy would be punished. Those are not empty words. The murderers should know that the punishment is inevitable.
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America
The statement below was released by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America on July 15.
July 17, 2015, will mark the one-year anniversary of the tragic crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17), which resulted in the deaths of all 298 passengers and crew members on board. The Boeing 777-200ER, an international passenger flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down while flying over the occupied Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine, by pro-Russian terrorists most likely using a Buk surface-to-air missile. Immediately following the crash, Russian Col. Igor Girkin, leader of the so-called Donbas separatists, claimed responsibility and boasted on social media about shooting down a Ukrainian AN-26 military plane. However, once it became clear that MH17 was a civilian aircraft, the terrorists denied any involvement and the post was taken down. Evidence, however, points to the fact that MH17 was downed by pro-Russian terrorists.
The UCCA reiterates its call for the Russian-backed terrorists not to obstruct a full, transparent and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the downing of MH17, and supports Malaysia’s recent request to the United Nations Security Council to set up an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of causing the crash last year in eastern Ukraine. The establishment of an international tribunal with the purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for crimes connected with this tragedy is imperative if we are to bring justice to the almost 300 innocent victims and their bereaved families.
On the one-year anniversary of this tragic global catastrophe, let us honor the victims of this tragedy, whose lives were cut short as a result of this vile terrorist act. Let us also remember their families, whose pain and loss will endure for years to come. We pray that they find peace.
This horrific act of terrorism is a reminder of the serious threat to global peace and security posed by Russia-backed terrorists in eastern Ukraine. As the 298 innocent victims have been silenced, we must now speak for them – our world has seen too many tragedies. It is simply not enough to raise one’s voice in one’s home. Rather we must raise our voices together in outrage at the violence that persists from terrorist groups such as the so-called Donbas separatists, who so flagrantly violate international law. The illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has led to the tragic downing of MH17, must be stopped before more lives are lost.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones in this tragic incident, and we ask God to remember all the innocent victims who perished and grant them eternal memory!
Ukrainian Canadian Congress
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress on July 16 issued the following statement.
On July 17, 2014, Russian-backed terrorists shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 flying over Russian-controlled, occupied territory in eastern Ukraine with a Russian-made and Russian-supplied Buk missile system.
This barbarous act of international terrorism resulted in the deaths of all 298 people on board the aircraft. The Ukrainian Canadian community expresses its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the innocent victims of this horrendous crime, including the family of Canadian Andrei Anghel. We join them in their sorrow.
The UCC is appalled by attempts by the Russian authorities to undermine the international investigation of this crime. No amount of obfuscation can hide the responsibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin bears for this terrorist act. Nor can denials and lies hide from the world the terrible suffering that Russia’s war against Ukraine has caused.
The UCC appeals to the international community and the United Nations to establish an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for this heinous act of terror and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. The UCC calls on Canada and its allies to declare the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” terrorist organizations and to designate the Russian Federation a state sponsor of terrorism.
May the memory of the victims be eternal.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
Following is the text of a press statement by Secretary of State John Kerry released in Washington on July 16.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine one year ago, taking the lives of 298 innocent people from 11 countries on July 17, 2014. Our thoughts remain with those who perished, and we join with their friends, families and loved ones in honoring their memory.
As I first said on July 20 last year, we believe that MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. A year later, we strongly reaffirm our commitment to a thorough and independent international investigation to identify the full facts of what happened that day and, most importantly, to see those responsible are held accountable.
We support the work being done by the Joint Investigative Team and the Dutch Safety Board, for that reason, and we urge full cooperation by all in assisting their effort to uncover the full truth.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt
Following is the text of the statement issued on July 17 by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt.
Today at 4:20 p.m., U.S. Embassy Kyiv observed a moment of silence honoring the memory of the 298 innocent lives lost one year ago today when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. With our partners in the international community, we are absolutely determined to bring the perpetrators of this despicable act to justice, and to restore peace, security and territorial integrity to Ukraine. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and loved ones of the victims, with the government and people of the Netherlands, Australia and Malaysia, and all those affected by this tragedy.
U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Daniel B. Baer
The excerpt below is from remarks on “Russia’s ongoing violations in Ukraine” delivered in Vienna on July 16 by Ambassador Daniel B. Baer to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Thank you for beginning this meeting by marking the first anniversary of the tragic death of the 298 people who perished when their aircraft was shot down over eastern Ukraine. These 298 individuals – passengers and crew, men, women, children, parents, brothers, sisters – all are among the thousands who have been killed in eastern Ukraine since Russia instigated this conflict. Each and every death – whether on this flight or on the ground, military or civilian, Ukrainian or Russian – is a senseless tragedy.
We are committed to supporting the Dutch-led investigation and holding those accountable for the destruction of MH17 to justice. We owe it to the survivors of all who have perished to do everything possible to end the violence, to press all parties to implement the Minsk agreements, to allow peace to return to eastern Ukraine, to end the occupation of Crimea, and to support the people of Ukraine in achieving their democratic ambitions. …