ISTANBUL

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held Russia accountable Wednesday for "widespread" and "flagrant abuses" of human rights in Ukraine and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The ECHR ruled that Russia has violated the European Convention on Human Rights during the war in Ukraine.

"In none of the conflicts previously before [it had] there been such near universal condemnation of the ‘flagrant’ disregard by the respondent State for the foundations of the international legal order established after the Second World War," said the court.

The ECHR noted that the nature and "scale of the violence" in Ukraine and the "ominous" statements from Russia concerning Ukraine’s right to exist had "threatened peace in Europe."

It also held Moscow accountable for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, stressing it violated the right to life, prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and right to an effective remedy.

"Russia had failed to take any measures to ensure accurate verification of the target of the missile or to safeguard the lives of those on board, showing a cavalier attitude to civilians at risk from its hostile activities," it said.

MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down above eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.

In 2022, a court in the Netherlands gave life sentences to three people, including Sergey Dubinskiy and Igor Girkin from Russia, as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. They were found guilty of causing the crash, while another Russian, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted on all the charges.

Moscow rejected the "scandalous" verdict, however, and denied any involvement in what happened to the plane.