The Russian Federation filed an appeal against Australia and the Netherlands at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday, challenging the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) decision in May 2025 that found Russia in violation of international aviation law in the shoot-down of MH17 that left no survivors on board the flight.

Russia’s application for appeal opposed Australia and the Netherlands’ claim that it was responsible under Article 3bis of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, otherwise known as the Chicago Convention, for the downing of MH17 using a “Buk” TELAR surface-to-air missile system. The ICAO found that the claims brought by the two states against Russia were “well founded in fact and in law,” ruling against Russia.

Article 3 bis recognizes a prohibition on the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight, and demands that the lives of those onboard not be endangered in case of interception.

According to the application, Russia argues that the ICAO Council’s ruling erred in fact and law on several grounds. Among its claims, it questioned the jurisdiction of the ICAO Council, arguing that the Chicago Convention did not apply during cases of armed conflict, such as the ongoing armed conflict in eastern Ukraine that was relevant at the time of the shoot-down. For this, Russia invokes Article 89 of the treaty, which preserves “freedom of action” for states parties affected by war. It also claims that Article 3 bis did not apply independently during armed conflict, consequently excluding its application in MH17’s case, and because the downing of MH17 did not constitute a breach of International Humanitarian Law. Furthermore, Russia alleged that the procedures the council applied were prejudicial to just procedure, and its standards of proof “improper.”

Notably, Russia challenged the validity of the Joint Investigative Team’s (JIT) investigation, a joint effort by the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine, arguing that it lacked independence and was biased. Russia further argued that Ukraine failed to adequately close its airspace to civil aviation, while suggesting that the Buk missile system that was used in the shootdown was in fact captured by separatist militia from the Ukrainian military.

This contradicts the investigation gathered by the JIT, which found that Russia provided the Buk system used in the shoot-down of MH-17, and the system likely belonged to the 53rd Anti Aircraft Missile brigade of the Russian Ground Forces, which the JIT found was working with separatist armed groups in the Donetsk region.