A group of 15 relatives of the victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 staged a silent protest outside the Russian Embassy in The Hague on Sunday, calling on Moscow to take responsibility for the deadly downing three years ago.
The protesters sat outside the embassy for an hour, bringing with them a bench with a plaque reading: “Waiting for responsibility and full clarity,” and below, in Russian, “Humanity over politics.”
They also delivered an open letter to the embassy, a copy of which was published by NOS, the Dutch broadcaster.
The letter calls for Russia to co-operate with the investigation into the perpetrators of the fatal downing of Flight MH17 in July 2014.
“We know that this nation is hiding or protecting witnesses and is not sharing relevant information,” the letter reads. “Even worse, we know this nation is manipulative and presents official ‘information’ that is demonstrably false.”
The letter then concludes: “Stop playing games. Be a nation as proud and dignified as your people.”
Monday marks three years since the Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers on board. Most of the passengers, 196 people, were Dutch, but victims also included citizens of Australia and Malaysia among other countries.
A report by the Dutch Safety Board published in 2015 found that the plane was hit by a Russian-made Buk missile, confirming suspicions that Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine were to blame.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in eastern Ukraine or the downing of MH17.
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