A law firm in Australia has filed a compensation claim against Russia and President Vladimir Putin on behalf of victims of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, shot down in 2014.
Reports on May 21 said 33 next of kin were named in the claim filed by the law firm LHD Lawyers in the European Court of Human Rights on May 9. It seeks $10 million in compensation per passenger.
The jetliner crashed in Ukraine in Russia-backed separatist-held territory on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 28 Australians.
The aircraft, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report late last year. The board was not empowered to address questions of responsibility.
Fighting was raging in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces when the aircraft was downed and many Western experts and governments blamed the rebels.
“So far we don't have [such information]" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax news agency when asked to comment on reports of the compensation claim.
