Netherlands commemorates 10th anniversary of downing of MH17 airline

The Netherlands commemorated on Wednesday the 298 victims of flight MH17 that was shot down over Ukraine 10 years ago with a ceremony attended by the bereaved and representatives from Malaysia, Australia, Britain, Belgium and Ukraine. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, the precursor of Russia's invasion of Ukrainein 2022. All 283 passengers and 15 crew on board, including 196 Dutch citizens, were killed, leaving the plane's wreckage and the remains of the victims scattered across fields of corn and sunflowers. Based on an international investigation, a Dutch court in 2022 said there was no doubt the plane was shot down by a Russian missile system and that Moscow had "overall control" of the forces of the separatist "Donetsk People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine from May 2014. Russia denies any involvement.During Wednesday's ceremony, which took place at the MH17 monument in the village of Vijfhuizen near Amsterdam, loved ones read out loud the names of all the victims. Mark Rutte, who was prime minister when the disaster happened and a strong critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin ever since, drew applause for his efforts during his time in office to keep the international spotlight on the incident.<br/>