Australia, Netherlands start UN action against Russia over MH17

Australia and the Netherlands said on Monday they had begun joint legal action against Russia at the United Nations' aviation agency over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 eight years ago. The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was hit over rebel-held eastern Ukraine by what international investigators and prosecutors say was a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 on board. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Russia was responsible under international law and that taking the matter to the UN's ICAO would be a step forward in the fight for victims, including 38 Australians. The Dutch government said the UN Security Council had also been informed of the step. "The death of 298 civilians, including 196 Dutch, cannot and should not remain without consequences. The current events in Ukraine underscore the vital importance of this," Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said. The rare procedure comes under an article of ICAO's Chicago Convention designed to protect civilian aircraft from weapons fire. It was added in 1984 following the shooting down of a South Korean airliner by Soviet fighters the previous year. The UN move is separate to a Dutch murder trial for four suspects over their individual criminal responsibility. Australia said it was seeking full reparations from Russia for the injury caused, and the suspension of Russia's voting power in ICAO, which sets standards for civilian air travel.<br/>