Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 — passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur
The deadliest aircraft shoot-down in history, killing all 298 aboard and triggering international legal proceedings against Russia.
Key Facts
- Total killed
- 298 (283 passengers, 15 crew)
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 777-200ER
- Missile used
- Buk 9M38 surface-to-air missile
- Missile origin
- 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, Russian Federation
- Convictions
- Two Russians and one Ukrainian separatist, November 2022
- Altitude of loss of contact
- ~50 km from Ukraine–Russia border
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the 2014 war in Donbas, Russian-backed separatist forces controlled large areas of eastern Ukraine. A Buk missile system belonging to the Russian Federation's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade was transported into separatist-held territory on 17 July 2014, where it was deployed in a field near rebel-controlled land.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777-200ER travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was struck by a Buk surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014. The aircraft broke apart and wreckage fell near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast. All 298 people on board were killed instantly, making it the deadliest aircraft shoot-down ever recorded.
Dutch Safety Board and Joint Investigation Team inquiries confirmed Russia's culpability. The Netherlands and Australia formally held Russia responsible in 2018 and pursued legal remedies. A Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist of murder in absentia in November 2022. The disaster sharply intensified international criticism of Russia's role in the Donbas conflict.