Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has extended an agreement until August 1, 2017, on an international investigation into the downing of flight MH17 in Donbas in July 2014, according to the presidential administration.
”Poroshenko has signed a bill into law on the ratification of the Agreement (in the form of the exchange of notes) between Ukraine and the Netherlands on prolongation of the Agreement between Ukraine and the Netherlands on the international mission to protect investigation of July 28, 2014 until August 1, 2017 (No. 1688-VIII),” the administration said.
This agreement creates the needed legal framework for further activity of the international mission to protect the investigation, which was established in July 2014, and is aimed at facilitating prompt completion of the investigation into the MH17 tragedy.
The document was drawn up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and tabled by the president in parliament.
The new agreement shall take effect upon receiving the last written notice of the fulfillment of the necessary internal procedures by the parties.
UNIAN memo. A Boeing 777 plane of Malaysia Airlines Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014, over an area in Donetsk region that was controlled by pro-Russian militants. All 298 people on board, including 80 children, were killed in a crash. Most of the victims – 196 passengers – were Dutch, 38 were citizens of Australia. The Dutch Safety Board on October 13, 2015, released its report on the causes of the MH17 crash. It was established that the aircraft had been shot down by a Buk system.
The joint investigation team (JIT) on September 28, 2016, presented a report revealing that the plane had been shot down from the militant-controlled territory of Donbas by the Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile system, brought to Ukraine from Russia. The JIT is composed of experts from five countries, namely the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium, and Ukraine.
