Europe’s top human rights court has ruled that Russia violated international law in Ukraine, marking the first time an international court has found Moscow responsible for human rights abuses since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights also ruled on Wednesday that Russia was behind the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17), the first time Moscow was named by an international court as being responsible for the 2014 tragedy that killed 298 people.
Judges at the Strasbourg court are ruling on four cases brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, encompassing a wide range of alleged human rights violations relating to the conflict, including the downing of MH17 and the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court’s governing body expelled Russia in 2022, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
But families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist Moscow-aligned rebels. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.
In May, the United Nations’ aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.
Wednesday’s rulings won’t be the last from the EHCR dealing with the war. Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia, and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.
Record barrage
The court’s ruling comes after Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones overnight.
On Wednesday, Ukraine said eight civilians were killed in Russian drone and bombing attacks in the war-scarred Donetsk region in the east of the country – five in the town of Rodynske and three in the town of Kostiantynivka.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on a beach in the Russian city of Kursk reportedly killed three people, including a Rosgvardia (Russian National Guard) officer, leaving seven wounded.
The latest exchanges of fire came after United States President Donald Trump pledged to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv, U-turning on a previous announcement.
Trump, demonstrating growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday that he was considering steep sanctions on Moscow. He also accused the Russian leader of talking “bullsh*t” on Ukraine.
Asked about Trump’s comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump had a “harsh rhetorical style”, insisting that Moscow was “fairly calm about it”.
Peskov also questioned the veracity of a CNN report published Tuesday, which cited audio recordings of Trump telling a private gathering of donors in 2024 that he had sought to deter Putin from attacking Ukraine by threatening to “bomb the sh*t out of Moscow” in retaliation.
“Whether it is fake or not, we do not know either. There is a lot of fake news these days,” said Peskov.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in the meantime, said on Wednesday that the diplomatic means to resolve the war in Ukraine have been exhausted and promised to continue supporting Kyiv’s fight against “Russian aggression”.
Pope Leo met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, marking the second in-person encounter between the two leaders since Leo was elected as head of the global Catholic Church in May.
According to a Vatican statement, the pair “discussed the ongoing conflict and the urgent need for a just and lasting peace”.
Both sides raised again the possibility of the Vatican hosting peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv – an idea dismissed by Russia in May.
Zelenskyy is in Italy to attend a July 10-11 international aid conference on Ukraine.
