UN’s International Court of Justice clears Russia of financing terrorism in Ukraine leading to downing of Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH17

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed much of Ukraine’s case against Russia, ruling that Russia violated a U.N. anti-terrorism treaty but declining to address Kyiv’s allegations that Moscow was responsible for the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

In the same ruling, the ICJ found that Russia breached an anti-discrimination treaty by failing to support Ukrainian language education in Crimea after its 2014 annexation.

The court’s decisions were a legal setback for Ukraine, as it rejected requests for reparations and only ordered Russia to comply with the treaties. While Ukraine’s representative highlighted that it was the first time Russia was officially called a violator of international law, the ICJ declined to rule on the downing of MH17, citing that violations of funding terrorism applied to financial support and not supplying weapons or training.

The ICJ’s judgments are final, but it lacks enforcement mechanisms.