Victims of the MH17 disaster remembered in the Netherlands

The commemoration  of MH17 at the National Monument  in Vijfhuizen, Netherlands

The commemoration of MH17 at the National Monument in Vijfhuizen, Netherlands Source: AAP / DPPA/POOL/EM/DPPA/Sipa USA

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Commemoration services took place on the 10th anniversary of the MH-17 tragedy, honouring the 298 victims, as families gathered to mourn. Amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine, they called for justice and accountability for those responsible for the downing of the flight, that continues to haunt them.


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Commemoration services took place Wednesday in the Netherlands and at the site of the MH-17 crash in the Russia-controlled part of the Donetsk region.

Grieving families recited the names and ages of all 298 passengers and crew killed as they marked the 10th anniversary of the tragedy at a solemn ceremony near Amsterdam.

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on the 17th July, 2014.

All passengers and crew on board, including 196 Dutch citizens and 38 Australians were killed, leaving the plane's wreckage and the remains of the victims scattered across fields of corn and sunflowers.

Dutch national Evert van Zijtveld lost his daughter and son, Frederique, aged 19, and 18 year old Robert-Jan, along with their grandparents.

"It is a black day, so we have, what you saw here, but it is not other than the last year and the year before,  so, what is very important is that we mentioned the names of the loved ones by the people, parents, or the other people and that is very important."

Anton Kotte's children were also onboard.

"I lost three of my kids, and I am 10 years further on in my life, and they missed 10 years of their lives, it is so unjustified for me that I am still here and they are killed by war action, and that is very emotional for me. I am 80 years old now, and they were in middle of their lives with good jobs and good education for the kids, you know it is awful what they did in Russia."

Hundreds of family members were joined by joined Dutch King Willem-Alexander, politicians and diplomats at a memorial in the Netherlands close to Schiphol, the airport the Kuala Lumpur-bound Boeing 777 departed from.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus represented Australia at the Dutch memorial site, where 298 trees commemorate each victim.

Two of the trees are for the Zijtveld siblings.

"And it is very important that we remember them and that we go to the trees, because we have a tree for all our, our children and parents and all, and that is very important to be here."

Flags of the countries that lost citizens hung at half-staff next to a field of blooming sunflowers.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof pledged to keep up the fight to hold accountable those responsible.

"We are always hoping for it, we also want after the decision in the justice court in The Hague, we hope of course to get people in the detention as well, but it is fair to say that Russia is not helping, so we are hoping, but it's going to be very difficult, but to proceed as I mentioned, I am sure that we will proceed very long on that one.

Reporter asking: 'You are not going to give up?' Schoof: "We are not going to give up, certainly not, no."

The Netherlands and Australia are pursuing Russia in international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights and the The International Civil Aviation Organization, for its alleged involvement in the MH-17 incident.

An investigation found that the missile that hit the plane came from a Russian military base and was fired from a separatist-controlled area.

Despite Moscow’s denials and the conviction of two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist by a Dutch court in 2022, Russia has not extradited them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has decried the downing of the passenger airliner.

"No matter how much effort is required, there must be accountability for all those who brought this evil, as they are evil themselves. And the same applies to the thousands of other Russian crimes of this war and this aggression itself. After all this, a lasting peace can only be based on a satisfied sense of justice for those who suffered from the aggression."


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