It is the sixth anniversary of the downing of Boeing 777, the passenger aircraft of Malaysian Airlines, known as flight MH17.
The plane was destroyed while performing a regular flight from the Netherlands to Malaysia in July 2014. The tragedy took place in the sky over the militant-held section of Donetsk region, not far from Snizhne town. All 298 people aboard deceased; most of the victims, 196, were Dutch, but there were citizens of another nine countries as well.
Common Ukrainian citizens immediately reacted to the tragedy, paying tribute to the innocent civilians killed in the disaster. The brought flowers to embassies of the Netherlands and other countries whose citizens perished in the crash.
In the view of the anniversary, President Volodymyr Zelensky left a message on his Telegram channel.
"Since the beginning of investigation of this tragedy, Ukraine showed itself as a reliable international partner, who is interested in truth", the Ukrainian leader wrote. "Nothing brings back the lost lives, nothing soothes the pain of their families and close ones, whose parents, children and friends deceased in the disaster. But justice must prevail - by the name of peace and memory of all those who perished".
Zelensky reiterated that the criminal proceeding against the assumed perpetrators began in the Netherlands on March 9. The president assumed that the court is supposed to become one of the largest proceedings over the last few decades, as there's a lot of international attention drawn to it.
"We're also taking steps within the process in the UN International Court, so as to bring Russia to responsibility for breaching its commitments provided by the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which led to the downing of MH17", the press department of President's Office reported.